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H O U L K A 

YESTERDAY TODAY 



BY RAD HARRILL REED 



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APRIL, 1914 
HOULKA, MISSISSIPPI 



TO AIY FRIENDS, 

WHO FREELY AND CHEERFULLY AIDED IN THE 

PREPARATION OF THESE PAGES, 

AND 

TO HOULKA, THE PLACE OF MY BIRTH, 

THIS VOLUME IS HAPPILY AND 

LOVINGLY DEDICATED 



COPYRIGHT 1914 
BY RAD HARRILL REED 



JUL 21 1914 






Press of 

S. C. TOOF & CO. 

Memphis, Tenn. 






•CI.A380767 




Rad Harrill Reed. 




INTRODUCTION 

HAVE no apologies to make — nothing to ofTer but thanks to 
my friends for the help they have rendered in the preparation 
of this book. It is finished and I am happy. My apprecia- 
tion has no limit for all the kindly wishes for success of the 
book and for those who gave me valuable suggestions as to 
its mechanical makeup. The keynote of the book is a desire 
to perpetuate the life story of the Houlka people — and they 
are the best on earth — to boost the town — to make it one big 
harmonious family. Along that line I have done my best — 
read the book and tell me what you think. It may help me to write another 
about you if you will show me my faults in this one. I expect it to be criti- 
cised — that is human nature. Just at the last moment I can see dozens of 
places where a bit more study would make it appear better — but it must go 
to press. 

With the letters received from the "Hoo's Hoo" I have tried to give each 
man credit for all that he has accomplished and maybe a tiny bit more. Some 
of the letters left me to "imagine the rest" and you will notice from the length 
of each "writeup" that it is according to the outline I received and to the real 
facts of the man. Much of the data I had to gather from friends or "think 
it up" myself and so I have written the book without one thought of par- 
tiality — although some may think so. It was my plan at first to give each 
man a long "story," but so many new men kept "jumping up" I had to cut 
them shorter than I wished them to be. Therefore the longer articles written 
herein were typed several weeks ago. 

Here it is. If you want to fight about anything I have said — wait until 
I get there. Remember, I can't walk. To everybody who reads these lines, 
1 love you and wish you the richest blessings of a happy life. 

Happily yours, 

RAD HARRILL REED. 



SPECIAL NOTICE. 

There are 1,455 names of people mentioned in this book — look closely 
and you may find yours — if you cannot find it, I'm sorry, for I tried to remem- 
ber everybody and his cousin. If you want another copy, write me. 




HISTORY OF HOULKA SINCE 1835 

N the year 1812, Andrew Jackson cut a road from Nashville 
southward, called the Natchez Trace, running through the 
vicinity of the future-to-be town of Houlka. To be exact, 
it runs a few feet west of the James F. Brown home one mile 
east of the old Houlka cross roads and down between the old 
Walker farm and the old Isbell place, on and on to Natchez, 
where Jackson and his soldiers rowed to New Orleans on 
rafts and in dugouts. 

Twenty-three years later an Indian Agency was established 
between old Houlka and the farm now owned by J. W. Hamilton. Settlers 
began to come in. The first large house was builded by the Isbells one and 
one-half miles south of present old town in 1837. A few months later, the first 
permanent home in the limits of old Houlka was erected by Warren Harrill. 
Three thousand acres of the Indian land was bought by this man and his 
brother, William Harrill, from Tum-hic-pa-ah under a government patent on 
January 25, 1836, where the present old and new town stands, the first real 
store being run by these men in the front yard of the present Harrill home, 
followed by the big Grange two-story store of Thompson & Hobson and 
later owned by W. H, Griffin. 

All the land in those days of '35 and '36 was owned by the Chickasaws and 
Choctaws, living in peaceful plenty and with great respect for the palefaces. 
In 1837 they moved westward, looking for better fields of maize and game. 
Many arrowheads, beads, pieces of pottery and old graves can yet be found 
near the fish pond just southeast of the present James M. Harris home.' A 
small stream running west of the present new town was named by the Indians 
"Houlka," and from that the town gets its name. Pronounced "Houlker," 
not "Hulky," or "Hulkie." Neither is it "Houlk," nor "Haulka." Think of 
the word "wool" rhyming with the first four letters of Houlka — "Houl" and 
then you have it. Curious, but it is home. The meaning is "low water" or 
"low land," exactly in agreement with the topography of the town. Many 
differ as to the correctness of this meaning; but the "low" nature of the land 
bears out the above definition. 

Benjamin Bugg was the first man to represent this section in the Missis- 
sippi Legislature in 1837. Tom Ivy and Charlie Gates were the wealthy men 
of the County, along with John C. Holladay, who came from Nashville with 
a big bunch of slaves and cleared all the land from the Agency to the Taylor 
Marion home. 

After the Grange came the stores of Savely, Sadler, Rockett, Mayo, 
Towrev, Thompson Bros., Baskin & Brown, Haney and Green. The post- 
masters were W. A. Harrill, W. H. Griffin, W. H. Savely, L. O. Towrey, Mac 
Abernethy, J. W. H. Baskin and J. S. Thompson. The latter being the pres- 
ent efficient and popular incumbent. 

In those days everybody was a "fiddlin' po' soul." Not a week passed but 
what some home invited the younger people to come and dance until the 
daylight hours. The steps, flings, and jigs that those boys and girls cut back 
in the nights of the long ago would put to shame the modern twists and 
twirls, the wriggles and hesitations, the tango trottums, and all the rest of 
the crazy squirms of the poverty clothed limbs and bodies, so universally 
indulged in among the "society elite." Nothing in the way of old-time dances 
or parties can be heard of in this day of "grabbin' dollars." The social ele- 
ment is about gone. Box parties, and all the innocent games of snap, spin- 
ning pan, thimble and cross questions and crooked answers are relegated to 
the heaps of oblivion — even a little party of tots together for a happy evening, 
is seldom seen anywhere. Now it is Clubs, Circles, Literary Societies and 
other "flamboodles" where the guest goes in the front door with the latest 
salute and a wafer; passes on to the alphabet of a punch bowl; hears some 
one kill a piano and then out the back door with another wafer in her hand 
and with profuse words of "enjoyed herself" in her mouth. The old freedom 
is gone — too much stiffness about the host and hostess as they try to carry 
out plans, arranged a month ago, with their guests. About the only relief 



HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 



is "refreshments," and then you have to nibble on them with careful precision 
and a fear that you are opening your mouth too wide or eating from the 
wrong side of the dish. 

But back to Houlka. Among the later settlers in the old town were the 
DeLashmets, Marions, Walkers, Boyds, Saxons, Savelys, Moores, Steens, 
Browns, Astons, Harrises, and the Flemings, More and more came on until 
the little village boasted of a population of 104 for 25 years. If one died, 
another was born, and if one moved away, another moved in. Everything 
was harmonious — mayors and marshals were a nuisance— the people lived as 
neighbors should. Cotton was carried to Okolona for clothing and groceries. 
Rosenbaum, Parchman Bros, and Cole of that town made thousands of dollars 
from the trade of the Houlka farmers. For many miles around and from the 
jungles of Calhoun, wagon after wagon carried hundreds of bales to this 
market on the famous Mobile & Ohio railroad. At times there would be 
fifty or sixty wagons with from one to a dozen bales each going by Houlka 
to Okolona, sixteen miles to the east. To the boys of the town it was a thrill 
to see and hear the driver of a twelve-bale ox wagon stand on the top of the 
cotton and double pop his long rawhide whip with the perfect skill of the 
old-time punchers. Every boy tried it when he went home and generally 
succeeded in wrapping the whip in a few welts around his neck or legs. To 
make a trip to Okolona on a bale of cotton in those days was the greatest 
joy of the small boy's life — for Okolona was heaven, where candy, bananas 
and soda pop abounded. When nearing the town the boy's heart beat fast 
in the ecstasies of expectation —smoke from the trains he had never seen, 
and large houses loomed glorious on the horizon. When would he get there? 
The latter part of the long trip seemed an age. Trembling with the thrill of 
the city, he entered — his eyes dancing from side to side — his tongue plying 
guestions by the dozens. Scared to silence was he, when fitted by the clerks 
in a new suit and shoes. The smell of progress was everywhere, and when 
a train whistled it thrilled his very soul. Finally he got permission to go 
down to the bridge and see the long trains of freights and passengers. Switch- 
ing cars here and there was a revelation, and how much he wished to ride on 
the red seats of the passenger coaches. Then later on, he took his first ride. 
Wonders increased as the train sped onward — the conductor was the grandest 
man in all the world. It seemed almost a dream until the porter called out 
your station and you, with grip in hand, timidly and blushingly followed the 
ones in front to real earth again and into the arms of your friends and rela- 
tives. But that is gone now and we no longer consider Okolona as we did 
of years gone into the realm of yesterdays. Houlka can boast of the same 
things, with its big mills and brick stores and railroads. 

The young men grew and went out into the w^orld to secure an education. 
Over 100 left the town to become professional men in the religious and com- 
mercial affairs of town, county, state and nation. Houlka being an inland 
town, and not much of a place for advancement in most of the professions, 
it was their perfect right to seek fame elsewhere. Therefore, Houlka is 
proud of all the children that she so carefully reared into manhood and sent 
with her blessings into a busy and wonderful world. Six preachers, over a 
dozen doctors and dentists, fifteen or twenty teachers, merchants, farmers, 
printers, railroad men, soldiers, bookkeepers, lawyers, pharmacists, lumber 
men, real estate dealers, traveling salesmen, clerks, bankers, county and state 
officers, stenographers, photographers, cotton buyers, post masters, baseball 
players, and many others in almost every profession known in the Southland. 

Among the doctors of Houlka since its beginning in 1835, were Drs. Rags- 
dale, Sadler, Walker, Williams, CafTey, Harris, W. C, Walker, J. C. Walker and 
J. B. Mitchell, the last three being the present doctors for both old and new 
Houlka, and for a radius of ten miles and over. We can safely say that they 
have cured more people with their pellets and powders than they have killed. 
One good sign that corroborates my assertion is the fact that no cemetery 
can be found in the limits of the town — four miles being the closest — which 
speaks volumes in praise of their skill and the general healthfulness of the 
country. 

In 1903, when Houlka was still in quite a state of hibernation, some sur- 
veyors pushed through the hills and valleys from the doodle-bug end of the 



RAD H ARRILL REED 



Gulf & Ship Island Railroad at Pontotoc, and hit old Houlka west of the 
Baptist church, or to be more exact, just a few feet behind the old home of 
the Flemings, or a few hundred feet east of the Savely branch. Hopes "riz 
and fell" and everybody who had land near the survey saw dollars coming 
their way. Finally a survey was made where the new town now stands, run- 
ning through the Hobson place, a strip of the Savely estate and on through 
the old pasture and farm of the Harrills. For eighteen miles it ran straight 
from Algoma to Houston — cutting the log cabin home of Uncle Charlie Saxon 
in two parts. Much protest and dissension was caused by the survey; but the 
officials finally decided on the depot as it now stands — after the company 
had been given several thousand dollars worth of land as an incentive. 
Outsiders heard of the new town and at once began to move in. Mr. T. R. 
Roberts was the first man to put up a store, followed by the drug store 
builded by O. M. Harrill. The store of Mr, Roberts was burned before he 
opened the doors for trade. Then followed Mr. J. F. Haney, with a general 
store, doing thousands of dollars in trade with the railroad people and other 
inhabitants of the growing town. The home of Mr. T. R. Roberts was the 
first residence to be erected in the corporate limits. Other stores follpwed, 
and then a bank. D. H. Hall was the first president, with O. M. Harrill 
and Dan S. Johnson as cashier and bookkeeper. Later the bank was moved 
into its new white brick building on the west corner of the south row of 
bricks. For several years it has done a fair business with O. M. Harrill 
as president and R. E. Atwell as the popular cashier. Mr. W. H. Griffin 
and Mr. T. J. Phillips have been alternate vice-presidents with J. E. Cobb, 
J. C. Beasley, J. B. Mitchell, J. M. Black, T. R. Roberts, G. W. Stubblefield 
and others as directors. 

The following men were once merchants: J. F. Brown & Son, Powell, 
Harris Brothers, Westmoreland, Heliums & Fair, Tolliver, Sam Phillips, 
Stacy Brothers, Easley, Robert Pulliam, Bullard and Andrews. The last two 
stores were burned in the month of January — Bullard losing every dollar's 
worth and Andrews saving all but the store. The stores of Lonnie Baskin 
and Uncle Billy Worrell were saved by the heroic efforts of the scantily clad 
midnight firemen. 

The merchants of the present city are twenty-four in number — every one 
"there with the goods." Beginning with the postoffice with Thompson Bros., 
general merchandise, the next on the Jinkins block of brick is J. G. Johnson, 
with a general line. Then Bird L. Phillips with groceries and furniture, 
G. W. Stubblefield is next with dry goods and a new stock of groceries. 
Next is J. A. & A. Williams of general merchandise. South of the Bank are 
the offices of Drs. Walker and Doyle Stubblefield, and barber shop of Curt 
Saxon. Going farther south on that row is the oflice of Jim Shields, then 
the bakery of T. V. Turner, a tannery, shoe shop and the Thomas Livery 
Stable. Crossing over and going north, the famous beef market looms up, 
then the store of W. T. Brown, general merchandise. W. A. Cook, with a 
fancy line of groceries, follows. The Griffin Drug Store is the last before 
crossing over to the general store of T. J. Phillips & Sons. Combs & Green 
are next on the longest row in town. The grocery, hardware and furniture 
stores of O. M. Harrill, J. C. Beasley, J. E. Cobb and J. M. Black come in next 
with two big brick houses, one being on the lot formerly occupied by the Bas- 
kin two-story furniture store. L. A. Turner follows with a general stock. 
Howard Roberts is next with an up-to-date restaurant. H. Ashkenaz with dry 
goods, and Ross Kimbrough, with groceries, are the last of the wooden stores 
on that row. Three big bricks, first occupied by J. W. Howard & Son, 
druggists, next by S. S. Stewart, hardware and furniture, and then Gaines 
dry goods are the last of the west row. On the north row are W. C. Worrell 
and W. A. Baskin, two stores of fancy groceries. North of this row is the 
new livery stable of John E. Savely. Passing east, there is the depot, 
where dry goods, wet goods, groceries, furniture, hardware and drugs can 
be obtained before five o'clock in the afternoon if you can cough up the 
freight or express. East of the railroad is the three-story Griffin Hotel, run 
by Mr. — Johnson, and right north of this building is the small store of 
W. T. Turner, the one-time mayor of the town. West of T. J. Phillips is 
the general store of John Luker, and in front of him is the Sam Haney Hotel. 



HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 



Farther west is the machine shop of John Peden. Then back to the clump of 
houses near the Thomas Livery are the shops of W. L. Guinn and W. L. 
Abernethy; the last named being the miller of the town, grinding any day 
of the week the best meal to be found in the country roundabout. The shop 
of W. L. Guinn is now in use by Thomas & Flanagan, who are contemplating 
an electric light plant for the town. 

The carpentering trade has been extensively carried on since the begin- 
ning by W. L. Guinn, J. F. Brown, J. M. Kirby, Ehren Boyd, Nichols, Smith, 
Johnson, Pease, J. W. S. Perry, Doc Haney and L. H. Harris. The carpen- 
ters of the Houlka long ago were, Hill, Milton Fleming, J. W. Alexander 
and J. M. Kirby. The latter helping build the old-time boarding house and 
school building. 

The ginners of the old and new towns that have gone out of business 
were J. W. Winter, Reed & Harrill, New Houlka Planing Mill Company, 
looked after by Mr. Dodds of New Albany, O. M. Harrill and Williams. Many 
hundreds of bales being ginned every year now by the present ginners — W. 
L. Andrews and C. A. Thorn. Mr. Andrews' mill is located a little northeast 
of the depot, and Mr. Thorn's occupies the old Planing Mill stand. There 
is great rivalry between them, both doing good work for the money. 

At the very beginning of the new town a large lumber mill was established 
south of town byHall, Langford & Robinson. The big white oaks, red oaks, 
gum and poplar went through its saws to the tune of millions of feet. Hun- 
dreds of cars loaded with quarter-sawed oak and high class pine were 
shipped to Northern markets during their stay in Houlka. Comparatively 
all the timber in the homes of the Houlka people was either sawed or planed 
by this firm, run under the supervision of R. B. Wessels and John Howard 
and Jim Shields. Tip Burge being the efficient sawyer. Much fancy lumber 
was worked up by this company, including banisters, posts and other embel- 
lishments for the trimming of a home. Almost at the same time, Robert A. 
Pulliam erected a modern brick plant just east of the railroad and planing 
mill. With a dozen sheds and two kilns he manufactured thousands of 
standard bricks for most of the buildings and chimneys of all the country 
adjacent to Houlka, shipping many cars to points North and South. Neither 
of the above mentioned plants are in running order except for the power 
produced in the old planing mill boiler for ginning purposes. The sheds of 
the old mill and the land are now owned by O. M. Harrill and the land occu- 
pied by the brick mill is owned by J. A. Williams, he having bought it from 
John Walls. 

In the year 1912, plans were begun to establish a big saw mill west of town 
on the ground of Jefferson Kirby by the Ferguson-Palmer Lumber Com- 
pany, of Paducah, Ky. It is a company of over a million dollars capital and 
owns several thousand acres of land and timber in the bottoms west of 
Houlka. By hard work on the part of two or three of the most progressive 
men in the town in guaranteeing a right of way, land for plant and a well 
of everlasting water, the company was finally induced to build their big mill 
at Houlka. It was work, and work that kept men busy, for the company 
intended to build either at Gershorm or Wallfield, where they could reach 
the timber quicker and cheaper by a standard gauge railroad far into the 
wilds of the Big Lake. Persistency won and after a right of way was secured, 
only by paying out a large amount of good money, the company began actual 
construction of plant and track. The well boring was at first a proposition 
almost impossible — there being so many failures of wells heretofore. A firm 
from Jackson, Miss., offered to do the work for an enormous amount, guar- 
anteeing 50,000 gallons and over per day or no money demanded. After 
losing some parts of the drill way down in the land of fire and brimstone 
and having all kinds of bad luck, the well was finally finished at a depth of 
980 feet. Pieces of bone were found 500 feet below the surface, agreeing 
with the geologist's assertion that this part of the country from Memphis to 
the Gulf of Mexico was once under water, the land as it is today rising from 
the tons and tons of sediment and trees that iloated down the Missouri, Ohio, 
Tennessee, Cumberland, Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. The well is still 
doing its required amount and shows what men can do who know their busi- 
ness a little better than the other fellow. The mill is running full capacity. 



RAD HARRILL REED 



cutting upwards of 100,000 feet per day. The engine and cars owned by the 
lumber men bring in logs every day from the logging stations between mill 
and lake. Much of the big timber is to be cut into stocks of fifty and sixty 
feet for the building of ships in the big navy yards of Portsmouth and 
Annapolis. It is quite an interesting sight to watch the band saws np 
through a log in lightning time and to see the "nigger head" move a log with 
the ease of a man handling a small stick of wood. Donald Palmer, son of 
the half owner of the firm, is the general manager; George Seats is the sawyer, 
and Shauffner the yard foreman. The yard already is stacked with pile after 
pile of high-grade lumber, ready to be shipped at a moment's notice. Con- 
crete walks or tracks help considerably in giving the "dollies" a level run 
from the live rollers. The building is the most up-to-date piece of work 
that could be done by skilled hands and plenty of money. Everything is 
automatic from beginning to end. Even the furnaces are fed saw dust and 
slabs bv a skilful manipulation of machinery. Many families have come 
into the town since the mill began and over seventy-five houses, some of 
them of large and modern proportions, have been builded by the company 
and by men of the town for the homes of these welcome citizens. Instead of 
the company running a big commissary and a money proposition of their 
own, they kindly gave to the merchants and the bank all of their business in 
return for the kindnesses shown them by a few Houlka citizens. The plans 
of the firm are to stay here at least twenty years and push their track further 
into the rich timber lands of the Calhoun and Grenada jungles. When the tim- 
ber is cut away, it is their intention to block up the bottom lands into forties 
and eighties and sell to incoming farmers at so much down and so much per 
month until paid. The Big Ditch being digged by Mr. Caldwell through the 
Schooner bottom and through the lands of this lumber company will make 
their property worth way into the thousands of dollars. Beginning up in 
Pontotoc County, it runs thirty feet wide and ten or twelve feet deep directly 
through the twists and turns of Schooner, making a five and one-half mile 
stretch through fifty-one miles of natural creek. At the beginning of this 
Canal proposition many of the kickers and knockers let up a howl — stornjed 
— raged — flew into pale blue profanity — verbal pyrotechnics exploded all up 
and down the line. Never a thought struck them that it would increase 
property value, cause better crops, make the country a garden spot of the 
State. The bonds were at last pushed through and the work begun in earnest. 
Today they are biting out ton after ton of earth, working both night and day. 
The wealth that will come into this section can hardly be estimated, for the 
canal drains all of that cold, soggy land so destructive to crops at certain 
times of the year. The eyes of the country are turned toward this drainage 
district and in the course of a few years many homes will be builded on the 
future richest land in any part of the State — Schooner bottom. Already the 
valuation has soared from almost nothing per acre to ten, twenty and fifty 
dollars. From this section Houlka will look for trade, and she will get it 
if the merchants will co-operate into better harmony and spend a dime where 
it will later bring them one dollar. Houlka must build up a farming terri- 
tory that will last — for the big mill can't stay here always. The only way 
is GET BUSY— STAY BUSY— KEEP ON KEEPING ON. 



SOME CONTRASTS BETWEEN OLD AND NEW TOWN. 

It seems strange that the customs of the Houlka people should change as 
quick as they have. That old-time hospitality, where yours was your neigh- 
bor's, and your neighbor's, yours — when life was one grand sweet song and 
everybody singing it — it's all gone — gone into the land of "Wynkum and 
Blynkum and Nod." Big dinners and barbecues, big singings, shouting re- 
vivals, big tacky parties, concerts, Woodmen blowouts. Masonic enthusiasms, 
big Christmas trees loaded with good things and a funny Santa to make the 
hundreds laugh, big hunts with men from Chicago, 'possum hunts and coon 
hunts, races with the elusive fox and the wolf — gone forever and a day. 
Where the town now stands, there could be seen, back in the old days, bear, 
fox, wild turkey, deer and all kinds of game. Civilization though has pushed 



10 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

them farther on to make room for modern machinery and the fast life of the 
Twentieth Century. Gone to come no more. 

THE LOCATION OF HOULKA. 

To be exact, Houlka is situated in North Mississippi, County of Chicka- 
saw, northwestern part. Okolona is sixteen miles to the east. Pontotoc 
is the same distance to the north. Houston is ten miles south, and Memphis 
is eighty miles away as the crow flies. Bounded by the counties of Calhoun, 
Pontotoc, Monroe, Lee, Clay and Webster — surrounded, as you see, by names 
of historical immortality. 

Buy a ticket at New Albany for one dollar and two cents — board the 
second cousin to a real Pullman headed southward and pulled by a doodle- 
bug engine. For about thirty-four miles the train will glide slowly over a 
serpentine trail along two streaks of rust owned by the New Orleans, Mobile 
& Chicago "Wail Road Company." Even before the porter calls out "New 
Hullkie" you will know that the train is nearing the end of that thirty-four 
miles. The noise of progress in this "metropolitan" habitation fills the air. 
The whir of machinery and the rattle of traffic sends a thrill over your sys- 
tem. The train stops — drummers and prospectors alight from the cars. In- 
stead of taking a street car, they content themselves by walking to the nearest 
stores. Boxes of "medicinal purposes only" fall in thick showers from the 
express door — Sears-Roebuck junk follows in a half dozen mail bags — pack- 
ages from the Standard Fashion and the Paris Fashion Companies come next, 
full of clothing that never fits and hair that never matches. The engine 
would take a drink, but the well was abandoned after losing part of the 
drilling down into a thousand and sixty-four feet of foreign country. Pas- 
sengers get on, going to Houston on a pleasure trip — to pay their taxes. With 
a grind and crunch the train gathers momentum and rushes into Mobile two 
hundred miles away. 

The first sight that greets the strangers' eyes in Houlka is the famous 
"Bilbo Stand," builded solely for him to make a speech of characteristic "hot 
air." It is the only monument Houlka can boast of and really it serves a 
purpose. The band boys can assemble and toot 'em up on any occasion. 
Also it serves as Justice of the Peace Court to make a "fine" impression on 
those who persist in the life of "shake, rattle, and roll." But here we are in 
Houlka just at dinner time to get the "God's Best" meal on the whole Molly 
Jackson line. Six hundred miles from Chicago — half of that from the Panama 
Canal and just as close to Heaven as any town of its size in all the land of 
America. We are proud of it — like to live in it — believe in it — want to see 
it grow and finally bring the Court House here where it ought to be. 



HOULKA WEALTH. 

The richest man in Houlka is he who has a wrought iron stomach, strong 
muscles, good eyes and teeth, a happy disposition, and thirty red cents in 
his pocket. That looks curious but it is the truth. 

There are no millionaires in the town — except in hopes and dreams. 
About half of the population spend hour after hour thinking what they would 
do with a million dollars. Some would hoard it — chink it up in cracks- 
others would go crazy. Possibly some would pay their debts, some might 
invest in a cigar or "one on ice," many would pay the preacher for a longer 
ticket to the pearly gates, a few would buy a new pistol, others would move 
to some city and invest their money in other than a home town enterprise. 

The valuation of the property in the limits of the town is about two hun- 
dred and ten thousand dollars — not so bad for a young town of ten years. 
Of course it could be sold for double that amount or more, but that is the 
"law of assessment." To some of the people this song fits perfectly: "When 
I can Read My Title Clear to Property Here On Earth." Others it is: "Only 
Trust Deeds Every Day," and "O Happy Pay" that "Revived Us Again." To 



RAD HA RR ILL REED 11 



the business man the wail is: "Remit Ye" my "Rocks of Ages" for "Why Do 
You Wait, Dear Borrower?" and then, "O For a Thousand" because "All To 
Him I Owe." Then comes this: "Pass Me Out" some "Showers of Blessings" 
for I'm "Almost Jaded" "Just As I Am." Thus follows the old story: "What 
Shall the Harvest Be" "When My Money Rolls Away," or "Shall We Meet 
Again" in "Jordan's Houlka Bank?" Well, it's all in a lifetime, and somebody 
must sing them high and low. Human nature is everywhere, and Houlka has 
part of it. Therefore the old song: "The Half Has Never Been Told" fits a few 
to perfection, but the Assessor "Gathers Them In" when they yell : "My House 
is Built On Nothing Less" "Than the Kussed Lie That Binds" my tongue 
"From Homeland's Richest Domains to That Sorrel Horse of Thine." Anyhow, 
nevertheless and notwithstanding, the wealth of Houlka is "More Than 
Tongue Does Tell," for if they are "Abundantly Able to Save" a few good, 
sound dolars from the excessive tax rates and from the pockets of too many 
ofTicials who are "Fully Busting" from incessant "Skin Him, O My Brother, 
Skin Him," it is their business and their right. Too many get wealthy by 
sitting down on the seat of their pants and grabbing like an octopus the hard- 
earned kale of the honest yeomen of the country. Still, if they have the brain 
to do it and get away with it, then what's the use of yelling "graft?" If you 
were in their shoes you would do as they do — so clam it. 



HOULKA HEALTH. 

With three doctors and two drug stores, Houlka can boast of over a 
thousand healthy inhabitants without the semblance of a "graveyard ceme- 
tery." Still there are some walking tombs possibly among that number. 
When a pain strikes some man's parabola of the thanatopsis, he rushes to 
the 'phone for a doctor. Before the doctor comes he is the "wellest" man 
in the town. But after an examination of his index, his doxology and his 
cornucopia wallet, he needs medicine. He takes it and in three minutes he 
is the sickest man you know. His liver begins a series of strenuous gym- 
nastics that would put to shame any athlete living. The amendment to his 
constitution makes a Brodnax Madonna in his "e pluribus unum" and before 
he can grunt once the verbatim of his soul has fallen out and looks as if a 
fricasseed symphony had stopped in his ante-bellum with a nux vomica feel- 
ing coming up in his sarcophagus. "The conilictions run riot up and down 
his rinal colyum and in two more minutes he is thetined with the splavins." 
Finally he's all in — down in the mouth— and don't know whether it is his 
backbone or his tummy-tum-tum that is paining him. But what would we do 
without a doctor? They deserve much praise for keeping us as long as they 
have, and it is only reasonable that when they make a mistake, they bury 
him. 

HOULKA EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 

From the very beginning of the new town, millions of feet of lumber have 
been shipped to markets of the North and to countries abroad. No doubt but 
what some of the quarter-sawed oak lumber that was sent to furniture fac- 
tories has come back to us in tables, bureaus and beds. If Houlka just had 
the skill and the money to back up factories, all of this unnecessary expendi- 
ture for Yankee-made goods would decrease considerably. The old slogan, 
"Keep your money at home," is a good motto to follow, but how many fol- 
low it? 

Besides the lumber shipments, many thousand dollars worth of cross-ties 
have been sold to the railroad companies of Mississippi, and even to systems 
in the state of New York. The tune of the broad-axe and the cross-cut saw 
has rhythmed from morning to night in all the post-oak lands adjacent to 
Houlka. Gasoline saw mill outfits have eaten through thousands of logs at 
the rate of several hundred ties per day. Other big mills up and down 
Schooner have sawed hickory logs into golf sticks, automobile spokes, buggy 
shafts, heading for beer barrels from white oak monsters of the forests, axe 
handles and other kinds of fancy cuts, to be shipped elsewhere for final 




Home of William H. Griffin. 






. \? 




Xcw llumc of J. A. Williams. 



K A D H A R R I L L R E E D 13 



touches. Poplar logs by the cars have been shipped to Houston for sawing 
when it should have been done here. 

Many cars of cotton seed go to points North and South every year. Later, 
the people buy it back in Cottolene and foodstulTs for horses and cattle. Eggs 
by the thousand dozen go to Memphis and Mobile and New Orleans — we 
might say, chicken, for that is the condition of a "goodly" number when 
loaded on express trains. What few fryers and fossils that Uncle Billy Wor- 
rell doesn't buy for his hotel, go to feed the hungry in Mobile or Memphis. 
Many hundreds of bales of cotton are shipped to compresses North and South 
— long staple, short staple, dirty, plated, blue-john, water-soaked, and every 
kind known to cotton men. As yet nobody in this town has made a fortune 
in cotton buying or speculation. They almost got there, but when that 
"margin" begins to loom at you — well, he isn't always Johnny-on-the-spot. 
The "future" looks great, once and occasion; but the past looks "fleeced." 
The Farmer's Union tried to monopolize the whole situation, but failed just 
like all other cotton ventures indulged in by people of small means against 
overwhelming bulls and bears of ready money. Anyhow, the cotton business 
is the money crop of Houlka, and will always be, boll weevil or not. 

A few carloads of cattle and hogs are shipped in the course of a year — 
many, many cars less than what it should be, considering the opportunity for 
money-making of that nature. As it is, most of the people are willing to raise 
two or three hogs and a calf or two and buy the rest of their meat and lard 
from kind-hearted merchants on the "pay in the fall" plan. Some people 
abuse the merchants too severely — remember, they have bills to pay and Ije- 
fore fall, too. As he is, the merchant is the most accommodating man you 
know — supplies hundreds with food and clothes until they can pay, and 
then fails two or three out of ten to collect even the interest. Instead of 
having a harmonious one-price rate among all the merchants, some under- 
sell, just to sell, and finally sing the old song: "I Know That My Receiver 
Giveth" starvation punches on his meager stock of goods. Right then it is 
time for him to hum, "Throw Out The Plough Line" and come back "Bring- 
ing In the Sheaves" "At the Frost." 

As the markets now offer good prices for truck, the farmers will no doubt 
begin to raise more of this commodity. When the railway gets into a real 
trunk-line system, then shipments of apples, peaches and other farm products 
can be handled easily — "IF" the farmers will ever utilize some of their latent 
energy. A start must be made — somebody will have to get enthusiastic — show 
*um how. 

Cowhides and furs are a source of revenue — smaller though than it should 
be, according to the nature of the country roundabout. That concludes the 
list of exports that show an appreciable monetary value. 

The imports are many and varied. Groceries and clothing comprise the 
bulk of the necessary things of life. Lard, meal, chops, oats, shorts and meat 
come in by the carloads — much more than the country can "afford." Corn 
in shuck and hay in bales come from elsewhere — signifying laziness on the 
part of some easy-come and easy-go farmers. Really, it is far from "easy," 
still they look at it that way. Flour used to be grown in abundance in this 
section after the war. It would be raised now, but it takes time and work 
and not so much going to town on Saturdays. Therefore, they had rather 
plant a little cotton and beg the merchants for flour and meat "ON TIME." 
Canned goods come in large quantities — put up by some energetic man or 
woman a few miles away. Next to the biggest import is "TONICKY" or 
chemical death that stupefies, kills. Enough money goes out each year to 
build the finest gravel roads Houlka could ever wish for. That peaceful 
panacea of the soul — the eternal optimism of happiness — the nectar of the 
gods — the exuberant hospitality of brotherly love — listen, "Praise Memphis 
From Where All Spirits Flow." The money spent for this stuff in the town 
of Houlka would build three brick churches and a larger school building. 
But if they want to buy it, that is their business. If they want to sell it, that 
is their lookout, too. Speaking of blind tigers, Houlka may have them and 
she may not. Anyhow, when an eagle screams from the hot clasp of some- 
body itching to spend it, the old blind tiger opens his eyes. Make a noise 



H HOULKA YESTERDAY TOD AY 

like a dollar, and he shufTles around on two legs with a perfect knowledge of 
just what you want. Other towns have all this blind tiger business, Houlka's 
never even had the sore eyes. Many propose a law enforcement, but who 
knows anything about his den? Who will tell it, even if they do know it? 
Again, what's the use? If they want it, they are going to have it, and law or 
no law, it will keep on until the end of time. Possibly if it were pure goods, 
there wouldn't be so many burnt stomachs and shattered brains. Still they 
are satisfied to drink dope that hasn't seen a grain of corn in forty years. 
John Paul Jones is dead, but his spirit still comes to town. So is Hayner and 
Harper, but their memory lingers. When all is said and done, Houlka does 
mighty well for Houlka, exports or imports, julep or no julep, we love it, 
believe in it — our home. 

It is said that a few people who live in the confines of Chickasaw can sing 
with much feeling, "Praise Memphis From Whence All Liquors Flow," and 
"Reel Not to Temperance" for "Fill Me Now" with "Just One Dram." Then 
they sing, "Have Courage to Shay, Yes" and "Pilot Me" to "My Old Kentucky 
Own." To wind up the shongs as they are shung they shing, "When Shall 
We Treat Again" down on the "Soiree Liver." 

HOULKA NECESSITIES. 

The first is adequate fire protection. With that installed, a system of water 
works and sewerage would necessarily follow. Then would come electric 
lights. It's costly, but Houlka needs some of them anyhow, and especially 
a better equipment for fighting fire. As it is, a bucket brigade is the "munici- 
pal fire department," commanded by everybody and composed of everybody. 
Water is there all right; but hard to get in emergencies. An iron tank sixty 
or seventy feet high situated in the public square and equipped with mains 
and hose along the business sections would make things look good to in- 
vestors and insurance companies. The rate now charged by these people is 
exorbitant, owing to the inadequate supply of fire-fighting material. Better 
protection — then lower rates. Some steps toward an electric light plant have 
been taken, but failed to get much farther than the wobbly and blinking stage. 
Houlka with a "Great White Way" would be some smile along with the other 
shining towns. Naturally, it would help the blind tiger see what he is doing 
a little better and not have to guess at the brand or make change in the dark- 
ness. The town needs the lights, for the juice of Standard Oil Company is 
ruining more good eyes than old Rockefeller is worth. Need them, want 
them, and will have them soon. 

Other needs are a good sewerage system, better kept streets, more har- 
monious dealings between the business men, a one-price system to stop so 
much cut-throating among the merchants, a better attitude toward the devel- 
opment of the public schools, a get-together movement to bring other indus- 
tries to town, (many want to come if you offer them inducements), and a 
more complete law enforcement. On the whole, Houlka ranks as high in 
moral living as any town we know and goes easily along without a continual 
calaboose activity. At times a few^ transients stop over as guests of the cala- 
boose, but after they have seen its wonders a repentant feeling creeps over 
them and big-hearted Uncle Doc Freeman bids them "Get thee to Helena 
out of here." 

The town people are to be commended for the prompt action shown when 
the stores of Bullard and Andrews were burned in January. Many other stores 
were saved by quick attention on the part of the bucket brigade. It was some 
excitement — people threw thirty-cent fits, one right after the other, and 
enough ammunition w-as sent into the air to fight a Mexican revolution. 

HOULKA IN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

Houlka is composed of over 1,000 people — as good socially and morally 
as can be found on the two streaks of rust running from Middleton to Mobile. 
Of course, this 1,000 population makes up the corporation of tlie town. Hun- 



RAD HARRILL REED 15 



dreds and hundreds more live in close proximity in good homes and on fine 
farming lands. 

In all there are twenty-six stores — doing a fairly good business the year 
'round. The old town boasts of one general store, lately begun by Mr. W. W. 
Williams from below Houston. Besides the stores, which are chiefly brick, 
there are two livery stables, three restaurants, three hotels, two ice houses, 
one bank of $10,000 capital, a one-hundred-thousand-dollar lumber mill, three 
churches, big brick three-story school building, a tannery, cobble shop, 
bakery, two gins, two grist mills, three miles of concrete walks and a retail 
pine lumber business. In the rear of the bank are three finely equipped 
rooms for dental work, barber chairs and doctor's ofTice. Skylights make it 
quite a modern ofiice annex. One meat market that changes proprietors 
about as often as it changes beef is situated near the Thomas livery stable 
on the opposite side. Two cotton yards, three blacksmith shops, one cala- 
boose. Woodman Hall, one pressing shop and a Bilbo stand complete the 
realities of Houlka. 

A law passed by the Board of Aldermen that no more wooden stores could 
be erected in limits is one of the good laws they are progressively evolving 
in the way of town improvement. Bonds for walks were made after so long 
a time, and work has begun in earnest, running through the main sections 
of the town and residences. 

The well-known Joe Reeder from Okolona is contemplating a machine 
shop near the store occupied by Lonnie Baskin. All kinds of modern drills, 
lathes and wood-working machinery will be installed. With this man, John 
Peden, W. L. Guinn, W. L. Abernethy, Arleigh Bishop and Flanagan, Houlka 
will be fixed. In the carpentering business, and also brick work, Houlka is 
represented by Charlie Morris, Guinn, Nichols, McKnight, J. M. Kirby, J. W. 
S. Perry, and many others who work at this profession during the rush sea- 
son of building homes and stores. With the new stable owned by J. E. 
Savely, and the old one of Uncle Bill "Howdie Buddie" Thomas, the traveling 
men can secure good service at any time. 

One more — Houlka has a brass band, and she toots 'uin up occasionally 
when the town spreads herself to a "blowout." Houlka is growing and will 
continue to grow in prosperity and morality. 



ADVANTAGES OF HOULKA. 

No other town of its size can boast of more natural advantages than 
Houlka. The lay of the land, the climate and the fertility of the soil make 
the town an ideal location for the quiet, hospitable Southern family. Every- 
body is mutually dependent upon the other— the "spirit" of neighborly frank- 
ness and the common cause of all "seems" to pervade the whole community. 
The people live in "almost" Utopian realities, and always ready to help those 
in distress by personal attention or indirect giving of clothing, food and 
money. 

It is naturally healthful, being away from malaria-infested districts. Very 
few cases of typhoid ever appear and that is combated with skill and great 
success by the three well known doctors of the town. 

Every commodity that can be grown in the Southern States is grown right 
here in Houlka. The town is fast coming to the fact that more things than 
cotton must be growm in order to live comfortably and wisely. Some of the 
land can and has produced over one bale per acre and at least 100 bushels 
of corn. Even that estimate looks small to what will be done in the coming 
years of the town. 

In a commercial way the town is equipped very substantially, although 
at times, the money problem is the hardest big thing Houlka has found in her 
arithmetic. Still she goes, leaning up against a few men for support "until 
fall." The Bank of Houlka can be complimented for the showing it has made 
through very strenuous times of panics and dull periods of the commercial 
world. It is a safe institution and can be depended upon to deliver the goods 
when called on. 



16 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 



Among the various stores, everything from a rat trap to a gasoline engine 
or from a hair rat to patent leather pumps can be secured at prices same as 
elsewhere and sometimes much lower. Houlka does a big trade and deserves 
it. In the other lines of business, the best can be had at any time. The best 
hair cut and shave on the "doodle bug" can be had in Houlka. The best 
meals, the best water, and especially the water of old Houlka is available in 
large quantities. One artesian well is located south of town near the home 
of Mrs. Alexander, and in old Houlka, the famous "Rock Springs" flows the 
whole year round. Many other fine springs dot the hillsides of the country. 
Two large artificial ponds fed by dozens of springs and full of bass fish de- 
light the fishermen any time during the year. 

A stock company is under consideration for the establishment of a fish 
pond one-half mile in length and a quarter wide. The place for the building 
of this pond, resort, swimming addition, boat course and for general recrea- 
tion is just southeast of Mr. R. N. Boyd's home. A levee alongside the road 
forty or fifty feet at the highest point would push the waterway into the back 
yard of Ike' Gordon. It would certainly be well worth the money spent for 
construction. 

As to schools and churches, Houlka is blessed. The churches are in good 
shape and surround the large school building on the north, south and east. 
The best sermons and the best courses of instruction are given at the regular 
hours in all these helpful institutions of the thriving little town. The attend- 
ance noted in both church and school shows much to the advantage and 
morality of the people. 

Houlka is in direct touch with Memphis, Mobile, New Orleans, Jackson, 
Chicago, St. Louis and Birmingham. From these cities comes much of the 
Houlka necessities, and to them goes most of our money. The railroad has 
helped the town wonderfully, and we can look wise into the future of another 
railway that may be constructed between this place and some town west of 
here on the Illinois Central Railroad. To get the Schooner country, Sarepta, 
Banner, Judah, Randolph, Toccopola and other little towns out in Calhoun 
and Grenada Counties in touch with Houlka, then would come prosperity 
by leaps and bounds. What an avenue of trade it would open for the benefit 
of Houlka and its people! Now is the accepted time to boost and keep on 
boosting. Boost 'um up, toot 'um up, open up. Get some Northern capitalists 
interested — they are "eeching" to spend some money around Houlka if some- 
body will tell 'um something. 

Houlka is noted for good people — people who stand high in education, re- 
ligion and social life; as good people as ever lived— people that are happy, 
friendly, lovable. Hospitality is not exactly the same of ages ago, still it is 
all that can be desired by those who visit during the vacation or at any other 
period of the year. The visitor is "at home" really, truly, easily. 

Withal Houlka is an ideal place to live — many know that to be a solid 
fact and live here from sheer pleasure alone. Some haven't any other place 
to live and don't want to live elsewhere. Happy, harmonious, hustling 
Houlka. 

WHEN THE RAILROAD CAME. 

It was in the winter of 1904 — everything was expectancy. The right of 
way had been finished in quick time. The graders came along with the boom 
of "bomonites" and hundreds of mules and wheelers. Then came the sound 
of a train in the distant north. People rode miles and miles toward Pontotoc 
to see the rails laid by machinery and singing negroes. At last the old 
engine 74 poked its nose into new Houlka to the wonderment and fear of the 
natives. Everybody was there and his dog. At exactly eleven fifty-seven 
and one-half o'clock on December 15, 1905, the rails were laid at the main 
crossing going into town from the east. When the whistle tooted it sent a 
thrill through people that roused them to millionaires on the spot. New 
Houlka was "some class" in those days, and even today the people haven't 
seen the train enough to still take a long look at the thing as it glides by for 
smaller towns away. Nevertheless, many of the Houlka people have taken 



RAD HARRILL REED 17 



their first ride on the cars since its inception and not a grander thing could 
ever happen to anybody anywhere. The puzzle is, why more haven't been 
killed than one or two? An ox wagon would sometimes be a delight supreme 
—still we are proud of it and it is proud of Houlka. The money they make 
from freight and passengers from and for Houlka is much more than a nickel's 
worth, and goes to help the "receivers" of the company every year. 



HOULKA POLITICS. 

Every four years Houlka begins to warm up with handshakes and "Hello, 
Bill," "Set ups" and "How's yer folks" rhythms into the rush and rattle of 
progress. Candidates are thick. Now they wear a collar and tie; clean 
shaved and a hair cut; the grippingest hand you ever shook or that ever 
shook you; you wince and squirm under the "loyal and friendly" pressure, 
and your toes turn over. Electioneering is on in full sway — the grand rounds 
bring dozens of voters to town with wives and baskets. Such oratory — never 
in all the world does such "rhetoric" leap wildly into the air. Everybody is 
running for something — looking for Easy street. There are too many offices 
— too much money paid them for sitting down on their royal chairs and to 
doze peacefully into four years of Utopian rest. There must be some men 
to do the work, but not as many as we have. Why, Houlka is even thinking 
of making a new county out of a strip of Pontotoc, Calhoun and Chickasaw, 
and calling it "Bilbo." Then with a court house here it opens up offices and 
therefore more candidates. When this happens though, Houlka may have 
whiskers seven feet long. 

On big elections Houlka comes across with about 300 solid votes. Houlka 
put Vardaman in the Senate (?) accordingly did they so do unto others for 
lower offices. When the voters here are for a man, they are for him strong 
and tight. When they are against a man, they are "sho agin' 'im." 

It is quite an amusing pastime to watch voters come in to vote. Tobacco 
juice and smoke run riot. Many ask a clerk to do the voting for him as he 
tells it, complaining of the "fact" that they left their "specks" at home; the 
clerk confidentialy makes out the ticket, knowing full well that in some of 
these cases the man can't read or write, never tried nor cared, never read 
the Constitution, never heard of it — still he knows who to vote for when it 
comes to choosing between several. So, many vote from opinions of others, 
having no reason whatever why they voted thus and so. 

Houlka is Democratic almost to a man — still half of them couldn't tell in 
a satisfactory way why they are Democrats. Most of them are of that faith 
because their father was. Withal, Houlka is as good in politics as any other 
of her sister towns and has some just as good politicians. 



HOULKA SCHOOLS. 

Houlka has always had good schools. The best teachers that could be 
had for the size of the place w^ere always here from one to four years. Many 
times in the sessions of the nineties did the enrollment almost reach the 300 
mark. One or two years that number was increased by twenty-five. The 
teachers of the schools at old Houlka are, as best I can remember, the follow- 
ing men and women: 

Misses Hattie McJunkin, Sallie Hodges; Prdfs. Gladney, Fitzpatrick, 
Smith; Mrs. E. A, Smith, Misses Lily White, Annie Harris, Callie Sue Hobson, 
Estelle Waldrop, Blanche Hodges, Hattie Carter, Hattie Haney, Randle, Fan- 
ning, Daisy Lester, Maida DeLashmet, and Mrs. Maggie Davis Carter; Profs. 
Powell, Eubanks, Beard, Kelly, Bob Thompson, Armentrout, Sanderson, Hiller 
and Dan Johnson, 

Those who have taught in the old Presbyterian church since the removal 
of the town are: Misses Estelle Jameson, Eula Boyd, Ola Neal, Inez Aber- 
nethy and Mrs. Mary Peden. 



18 HOI' L K A Y E S T E U D A Y TOD A Y 



For four years Prof. Price taught the new school in the large brick build- 
ing east of the depot. Many boarders were enrolled as students and the four 
years were marked by extensive i)rogress along all lines of education, music 
and also in the plays and concerts. When every patron co-operates with the 
teachers and tries to show some enthusiasm over the work, then will come 
schools "you read about." In every town though there is always a lack of 
a get-together spirit, just like Houlka. Wrangling does not give the children 
whose minds are just in the stage of grasping whatever falls, a good example, 
and just so long as people disagree, fuel added to the llame every day from 
some whine of the children, we will never have a school to the credit of the 
town. Now, it seems that the pui)ils and teachers are getting right into busi- 
ness and are doing some splendid work in the advancement of the real funda- 
mentals of life. 

The following men and women have been the teachers up to date of this 
book: Prof. Price with Misses Annie Laurie Dabbs, Juanita Clifton, Annie 
Barnard, Leola Morris, Kate Donaldson, Lucretia Harris, Kate McKennon, 
Mary Sue Thompson, Ethel Hansell, Claudine Morgan, Jettie Wade, and Alice 
Campbell. The teachers with Prof. Newell have been in the past three years: 
Misses Carrie Lee Harris, Annie Medlin, Maud Cox, Evie Sue Holladay, Velma 
Avent, Anice Newell and Mary Countiss. 

Through the efTorts of Houlka's most progressive citizens the big school 
building was erected at a cost of over ten thousand dollars. After many 
glooms it was completed and turned over to the children of the community. 
Houlka is proud of it and wishes for the school better progress than ever 
before. 

LYCEUM COURSES. 

For several sessions a lecture course has been a great feature in the uplift 
of the town and vicinity. Music masters, readers, cartoonists and clay model- 
ers, singers and "talkers" have delighted their audiences with wit, wisdom 
and pathos. Men and women of national reputation have come to us in the 
happy names of Booth Lowrey and Emma 1). Handle. We appreciate their 
coming — their sacrifice and their "mum" thoughts as to Houlka and its 
people. Many of us waked up two weeks later with one of their points stick- 
ing square in our verbatim and we shouted from sheer force of "have to." 
It was mighty hard on a lecturer, when he absolutely knew that he had made 
a "sho nuil" point and no response greeted the jab. Others had laughed and 
called them great — what was wrong with Houlka? What inhumanity to 
man — what an appreciative world — my sympathy to them all. 

THE HOULKA HUMMER. 

Listen! Houlka will in a very few weeks issue a paper and the above 
name has been chosen by its editors. The word "Hummer" tells the character 
of the four-page paper to be printed in Memphis and ready for the mailing 
list at Houlka every Thursday. The business men have enthusiastically 
agreed to support it with ads and inlluence. Circulars will be mailed to all 
the people telling them of its inception and soliciting subscriptions. The 
columns will be filled with live news, feature write-ups about all the people 
and their professions, lists of the Woodmen, the Masons, members of 
churches, how many went to Sunday school and who they were, comings and 
goings, editorials on things about town, farm and household departments, 
names of subscribers as they pay in their dollar for the paper, bang-up ad- 
vertisements written in convincing and "take notice" manner, society news, 
reports of Aldermen meetings, bank statements, quotations, questions and 
answers, brief summary of weekly events, and everything that will help the 
town to hum — to be a "humdinger." 

Houlka needs a paper and she will support it, if the editors will come 
across with the "dope." No patent matter is the plan now, and no piano con- 
tests will be allowed. It will not be the "official organ of Chickasaw County" 
but will be solely gotten out for the interests of Houlka and its people. What- 



RADHARRILLREED 19 



ever is left out of this book about Houlka will appear in the paper. "Hoo's 
Hoo" articles about the prominent men and women will be run each week, 
written in different style of these in the book. We are working up "steam" 
for the paper and want to get out first issue in few days after this book is 
printed. See Grady Cook for more information and leave your dollar with 
him for a year's subscription. He is the business manager and local editor, 
and yours truly will assume the editorship. We can't even hope to make a 
fortune out of the venture, but our love for the town and people, their ad- 
vancement into one big harmonious family and for the progress of com- 
mercial enterprises, inspires us to push this necessity with vim and vigor 
into the hearts of all the citizens. We want all the people to subscribe — to 
help in giving news and make suggestions for the good of the paper. You 
are free to write "opinions" and we will gladly publish them in the "Vox 
Populi" column. We cannot buy a press yet, so the work must be done in 
Memphis. It will take money, and lots of it, to publish the "Hummer" and 
we respectfully solicit your co-operation and subscription. Look out, we are 
coming "a-humming." 

TRUCK FARMING. 

Houlka was once a section of much fruit and good fruit. Big orchards 
were the pride of every family — they made their own brandies and lived like 
millionaires with more wine on the sideboard than in their stomachs. Drink- 
ing in those days was a sip now and then — today it is gulp a gallon at a time 
and yell for more. Gardens grew thick and fast with the best vegetables that 
the South could produce. But the people grew lazy and let the orchards and 
gardens dwindle to almost nothing. Scrub bushes can be seen about the 
country, bearing wormy apples and peaches. Only a few men have any- 
thing along that line to sell during the seasons of ripening. 

Mr. Joe Hamilton, who lives on the former Walker farm, deals extensively 
in fruits of all varieties. Has a model orchard and grows prize-winning 
Elbertas and big red apples. Besides his truck farming, he has won many 
County Fair prizes with his thoroughbred Berkshire and Poland China hogs. 
He believes in combating the high cost of living, and is enthusiastically mak- 
ing great progress in the fight. 

Along with Mr. Hamilton comes Mr. John Ingram, who does a good work 
in raising underground fruits for the local market. He sees the necessity on 
the part of the farmers for crops of this nature. The boll weevil must be 
reckoned with and he is preparing for the time they will come. This year 
he is planning to raise quite a large variety of vegetables to supply the 
local dealers and for personal delivery among the mill people. He is a hustler 
and is always "Johnny on the job." 

The Marion family market many apples and other fruits during the sum- 
mer and fall, and can much of the fruits for home consumption. They live 
in a fruit section and hope later to make the truck farming a big help to the 
country. 

Mr. Silas Aston, who lives northeast of old Houlka, has quite a large 
orchard, and realizes a nice amount for his apples and peaches. He sells in 
his home town and in Houston. His love for "nursing trees" keeps his 
orchard in better condition than many others in the country roundabout him. 
So many bugs infest the young trees these days that it keeps a man working 
all the time to keep them from working. 

Mr. James M. Harris and Mr. W. S. Savely have done a fine work in graft- 
ing trees into the production of better fruits and better made trees. It is an 
art to grow two kinds of trees into better ones and they have made it quite 
an exhaustive study for profit and pleasure. Both have sold many trees to 
the Houlka people and have sold their fruits all over the county. Mr Savely 
ships some of his peaches from Okolona to Tupelo, the housekeepers wanting 
all they can get of his variety. 

The Holladay family four miles north, the Reid family four miles south, 
and many others in the radius of five miles, raise much truck for market 
purposes. 



20 HO ULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

Most of the above men raise watermelons for the local trade, and with 
them are Messrs. Bob Ware, Neely Marion, J. W. S. Perry, R. B. Richardson, 
Clifton Aston, Jim Bray, Gip Grimes and a few more who sell some of the 
finest that can be grown in this section. 

In the realm of flower land comes John A. Marion. From the most beau- 
tiful rose to bananas and lemons he keeps the Marion yard in the glories of 
the rainbow and the homes of his friends with artistic bouquets. Memphis 
florists "tain' no stir" to John Marion, "the genial flower of Houlka." 

Houlka needs more men to make truck farming a part of their crop. 
Cotton is a lazy man's job and if they don't begin now the boll weevil will, 
so there you are. The merchants can't supply everybody "on time," for they 
have bills to pay like anybody else, and, fact is, they have to pay it. The 
average farmer begs and begs for time, never thinking of the hardship on the 
merchant's part. The people must raise more hogs and bread and quit buy- 
ing. How can a people prosper by living hand to mouth? Too many rely on 
the colored population to work the land and fork over the profits. If you 
think about it, the land is worn out by their lack of attention and the build- 
ings go to ruin in quick time, just from the white people's laziness in "seeing- 
to things." Somebody ought to start something — who wall it be? You — you 
can do it. You've got to or kick the bucket. 



HOULKA CHURCHES. 

Houlka has always been known as a quiet church-going community, be- 
lieving strictly in the worship of the Blessed Master in happy accord with 
the teachings laid down in the great Book of Life. Every home is supplied 
with Bibles and literature of their respective denominations, keeping up with 
the progress of Christianity at home and abroad. The Sabbath is observed 
rigidly as a day of rest, reading and visits among friends. 

On the 18th of April, 1873, the Presbyterian church was organized by the 
Rev. A. H. Barkley, with M. H. Roberson, R. G. Hobson, J. F. Hobson, J. C. 
and W. D. McJunkin and W. T. Steen as elders. The deacons were F. T. 
Marion, J. L. Roberson, J. E. and R. T. Hobson. Its pastors have been the 
Revs. J. D. West from '74 to '83; W. V. Frierson from '83 to '94; G. H. Steen 
to '96; A. H. Barkley to '99; D. M. Armentrout to '01; J. F. Turner to '03; T. T. 
Kimbrough to '04; D. L. Barr to '10; John Goff to '12, and F. D. Daniel to the 
present time. In 1910 the membership was moved into the new church they 
had builded, leaving the old church for school purposes during winter 
months. 

Some years later the Methodist people erected a church near the old-time 
boarding house, and was for many years the leading church in number of 
members and converts. When the town was booming into importance the 
old Houlka church was sold and a new one constructed near the large school 
building. Its pastors have been, as far as I can gather: Revs. Roberson, An- 
derson, Park, Bell, Johnson, Lester, W. C. Carlisle, T. J. Durrett, Davenport 
and W. N. Dodds. 

The Baptist church was organized about '93 or '94, and a strong house 
of worship was erected just west of the old school building at old Houlka. 
Mr. Joe Hamilton, J. R. Mayo, W. S. Savely, James Thompson, Aquilla 
DeLashmet and others, were the founders, and brought their memberships 
from Shiloh after its completion. Before this, the Rev. Gideon preached for 
the Baptists in the Presbyterian church. Rev. R. A. Cooper served as pastor 
for twenty years, until at the beginning of '14, he moved to Canadian, Texas, 
leaving the Baptists without a preacher and the people a great, good man. 
The church as it now stands was rolled from the old town through woods 
and over creeks without a mishap whatever. 

Houlka churches have had great revivals, carried on by the best men that 
could be found in the State. Some of the visiting preachers and evangelists 
were Revs. Gilderoy Porter, Norsworthy, Fleming, Wesley, McCain, Preston, 
Farrell, Simpson, Clark, Henderson, Rogers and Holder. 



RAD HARRILL REED 21 



In Sunday school work and prayer meetings the churches are doing a 
great good in the development of the younger minds of the town, and much 
better harmony seems to have crept in with excellent results. Both men and 
women are getting interested in the class work and help teach the lessons 
with eager enthusiasm. The ladies of the various churches do a good work 
in helping the orphans and others who need the charity funds. Plays and 
suppers are sometimes given by the church people to help in the support of 
home and foreign missionaries. 

The Christian church, although they have no home of worship, has several 
members — enough for their preachers to stop over sometimes and use any 
pulpit they may wish. Houlka hopes to have this fourth church in a town 
of 1,000 ere many moons sink into occidental oblivion. 

With these four, Houlka is fixed religiously. The people go when the 
"go" germ gets in them, and truly most of them carry the little fellow some- 
where about their energetic anatomy. Still some of them fuss over the other 
fellow's religion and never think of the Scriptural saying about "motes in 
their eyes." It's natural though, and if we didn't have something to fuss 
about — well, we might just kick the proverbial old bucket or pass in our 
checks and be done with it. Everybody has a perfect right to his opinions 
— and that has been said over a million times in that many places. But how 
many give the other fellow that right? Some men and women in this town 
will not acknowledge that members of other denominations will go to Heaven. 
They admit that others may be "trying" to get there and "if" they only be- 
longed to "my" faith, they would scoot to the ambrosia so quick the devil 
would never hear about it. When one man or woman, or a dozen men and 
women, tell you that you do not read your Bible right, then there is some- 
thing wrong somewhere. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, saw and heard the same 
thing and their version is similar in essentials, but far difTerent in the man- 
ner of telling. Just so with men and women today — not all interpret the 
Bible exactly the same. Then when the learned bugs of all religions fuss 
over this form and that form, it seems best to go on and trust God for salva- 
tion and leave out the worry. Anyhow, it is best for us, and to my mind 
old Uncle Peter will not ask you what church you belong to, but HOW 
HAVE YOU LIVED? There are said to be 2,800 religions, each just as sin- 
cere in its belief as the others — all with an eye single to some Great Power 
on high. Then if there is only one religion or way or form that is right in 
the sight of God, there will be 2,799 religions of many millions of people 
left in a scorching fix. Still, that is the way some people believe, and cross 
your heart it shows weakness and disrespect. Many think they will sit in 
God's lap and play with his watch-fob, while the rest of the "poar devils" 
will have to work the crops and prepare the ambrosia. Somebody, some 
day, somewhere, somehow, will get the biggest "April fool" ever perpetrated 
on humanity, and they will be about the most foolish looking fool "they 
is." Then, again, some people jump into a great heaving fit about the 
"stummick" and the education of a two-year-old African baby, thousands 
of miles beyond the pond, when they can't see with eyes wide open the 
needs right at their front door. People at home suffer for bread and cloth- 
ing, but never get it. Slimy, nude "furriners" get what ought to stay at home. 
Just so long as an American dollar provides food and clothing for those 
foreign people, just so long do they accept our religion. When the mission- 
ary leaves and the dollar comes no more — think. Why don't things be 
done here where the result can be seen? When the home is provided for 
then it will be time to go to other places. Their belief is just as sincere as 
ours, and if one of those slimy, half naked Africans or Chinese should 
come to our door and tiy to teach us his religion and help our sick with his 
money, w^e would throw eleventy-eleven fits in four seconds and wouldn't 
have enough "kuss" words left in our system to say "bing it." Think about 
it right seriously. You need not agree with me unless you want to. But 
take a slant at the numberless things you can do at home — think — act. 



22 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 



GOOD ROADS. 

When speaking of "good roads," it means nothing less than from five hun- 
dred to five thousand dollars per mile. Just now Houlka needs good roads, 
and needs them quick. Too much trade goes away from us just from lack 
of suitable roads. Especially is this so of the western country. The roads 
are fierce; not the supervisor's fault; but because there is no money to spend 
on them. People are afraid of just what they need and just what will have 
to come — a bond issue. Continual hauling over the western roads at a time 
when wagons go hub deep in the mud and slush have torn them to "smith- 
ereens." If the road is graded nicely then comes hundreds of wagons lo cut 
it to pieces again. Gravel is the only remedy tor the Schooner roads, and 
they certainly need to be dosed liberally. People "holler" high taxes, but 
you can't blame them. Nevertheless, the land near a good road increases 
threefold. That is, if your property was formerly worth one thousand eight 
hundred dollars, when a good road is run through it or by it, then the 
value of your property jumps to three thousand or three thousand five 
hundred dollars. Do you get me? It is a fact that Houlka would get more 
than five hundred extra bales of cotton to gin and to market. A road is not 
for one man nor two men, but for everybody. Plain, isn't it? Then, the 
thing to do is build roads. Spend a dime and make a dollar. Get together, 
stop cussing the supervisor; hand him a line or two of help. 



LOCAL ORDERS. 

The Masonic Lodge, John S. Cain, No. 259, of course, comes first, as the 
oldest order in Houlka. It was once a flourishing institution in the old 
town, but dropped into hibernation except for a few meetings every two or 
three years of six or seven loyal members. In the last year it has "kinder" 
waked up and rubbed the scales from its eyes for better work in the future. 

When the W. O. W. was begun over a dozen years ago, it was enthusiasm 
rampant — the old goat had things butting his way. Logs rolled quick and 
fast. In a few years it went to sleep. When Grady Cook was chosen as 
Consul Commander the axes got to chopping and a hall was builded for 
the 110 membership. Thanks to the hustling of Grady and his cohorts. The 
meetings are very frequent and from 80 to 100 attend each time. The initiation 
ceremonies cause much merriment and the real "pretty work" as the drill 
team so nicely interprets, makes things hum for Woodcraft. Grady Cook 
keeps his men going, going all the time, teaching them the great truths of the 
W. O. W. by strict attention to the ritual and his own originality in training 
the men in the various marches and intricate formation. Houlka is some 
smile now on the Woodman map. 

The Tribe of Red Men and the Knights of the Maccabees haven't made 
quite as strong a hold on the town as the two above orders; their wigwams 
and tents having been blown clown by an inharmonious wind. 

The Eastern Star and the Woodmen Circle are struggling along for better 
things in the future. 

The Woodmen are preparing to organize the Boys of Woodcraft some time 
this summer. Boys from ten to eighteen are eligible, paying ten to fifteen 
cents per month, and if they should die before joining their larger brother 
when eighteen, they are entitled to an hundred dollar monument. 

The town moves peacefully along without any "Daughters of the Revolu- 
tion," or "United Daughters of the Confederacy." We are happy without a 
"Votes for Women" club, or a S. P. C. A. There are no societies of the 
S. P. U. G., W. C. T. U., W. F. C, M. M. M., or any other "Untied Daughters" 
of X. Y. Z. There are no suffragettes nor suffragists, thank goodness — not 
even a Sewing Circle. Everybody belongs to the society of "Happiness Get 
Together," and live joyously without purple teas, linen showers, forty-two 
parties, Rook Clubs or Missionary fiascos. 



RAD HARRILL REED 



23 



TEACHERS AWAY FROM HOME. 

Miss Eula Boyd 
Miss Maylene Boyd 
Miss Ara Bullard 
Miss Stella Harris 
Miss Susie Harris 
Miss Oda Howard 
Miss Huzie Kirby 
Miss Nellie Rose Marion 
Miss Pauline Newell 
Miss Myrtle Phillips 
Miss Mary Sue Thompson 



BOYS AND GIRLS IN COLLEGE. 

Edwin Aston Port Gibson 

Miss Ruth Boyd Columbus 

Ray Hamilton A. & M. C. 

Earl Hamilton Buena Vista 

Harley Harris Ole Miss 

Miss Arrilla Perry Nashville 

Miss Ruth Reed .... Blue Mountain 
W. Mac Reed Ole Miss 



"FASCINATING FACTS." 

Born to Mr, and Mrs. Langford, the first child in the new town. 
T. R. Roberts occupied the first permanent home. 
Mose Pinson was the first man to be arrested. 
Frank Smith bought prescription number one. 

J. F. Haney sold the first nickel's worth of tobacco, Brown Mule, to Ned 
Beeson. 

Ben Thompson got the first shave in new barber shop. 
O. M. Harrill deposited the first dollar in the bank. 
W. H. Griffin sent first money order through postofTice. 
T. J. Phillips bought first bale of cotton brought in by Jno. Walker of 
Schooner. 

J. A. Powell received first package of express. "Cap" Walker bought first 
ticket. 

The oldest residence in new town belongs to J. C. fvirby. 



PROGRESSIVE HOULKA FARMERS. 



Will Abernethy 
Silas B. Aston 
Henry Aston 
Neely Aston 
Allie Aston 
Mack Aston 
Clifton Aston 
Arthur Aston 
John Aston 
W. W. Bolding 
R. N. Boyd 
Bert Boyd 
Dave Bray 
Lee Bray 
Jim Bray 
J. F. Brown 
Frank Brown 
John Brown 
Will Brown 
Dave Brown 
F. E. Brown 
Jim Brown 
Vester Brown 
Arthur Brown 
J. N. Bryant 
Wade Burgess 



J. J. Burt 


John Hancock 


W. R. Burt 


J. F. Haney 


Tom Carter 


Marshall Haney 


Race Chapman 


Sam Haney 


J. O. Clark 


N. H. Harmon 


Jim Clark 


O. M. Harrill 


Clint Clark 


J. M. Harris 


Lou Clark 


L. H. Harris 


Jack Cole 


T. V. Harris 


W. R. Corder 


A. B. Harris 


Jim Corder 


Tom M. Harris 


M. L. Cowsert 


Ellis Harris 


D. L. Cowsert 


Ernest Harris 


J. D. Culpepper 


Scales Harris 


Thompson DeLashmet 


Woodbury Harris 


Andrew Easley 


J. T. Harris 


Herman Easley 


Andrew Harris 


Will Flaherty 


Ferman Harris 


Everett Flaherty 


W. F. Herndon 


J. H. Fleming 


John Hill 


J. F. Fleming 


Carrol Hillhouse 


Will Gregory 


Curry Hobson 


Gip Grimes " 


Lause Hobson 


Ulmer Guinn 


John Holladay, Sr, 


J. W. Hamilton 


Wyatt Holladay 


W. I. Hancock 


Ike Holladay 



24 



H O U L K A YESTERDAY TODAY 



John Holladay 
Henry Holladay, Jr. 
G. W. Hollingsworth 
Hal Hollingsworth 
John Ingram 
Leonard Ingram 
Vardie James 
D. S. Johnson, Sr. 
George Johnson 
J. M, Kirby 
J. C. Kirby 
Clifton Kirby 
Rowland Kirby 
W. L. Kirkpatrick 
Jodie Lester 
W. L. Long 
J. H. Luther 
M. D. Lantrip 
H, M. Lantrip 
V. Y. Lyons 
R. B. Marion 
W. R. Marion 
R. L. Marion 
Will Marion 
James H. Marion 
John A. Marion 
Edward Marion 
Neely Marion 
Sam Mathis, Sr. 
Sam Mathis 
Walker Mathis 
Lacy Mathis 
Cleveland Mathis 
W. L. J. McAbee 
Evans McAbee 
John McCormick 
Bunk McCormick 
J. D. McDonald 
Richard McKnight 
Jhnmie Lee McKnight 
Earl McKnight 
Willie McKnight 
Obe McLaughlin 
Robert McJunkin 
Joe McJunkin 
R. L. McWhirter 



.lohn Mize 
G. M. Morphis 
W. M. Morphis 
Columbus Nance 
Wallace Nance 
Frank Nance 
Jesse Nance 
Roy Nance 
Clarence Nance 
J. D. Newell 
O. P. Norman 

C. W. Norman 
Fletcher Norman 
Festus Norman 
Leland Norman 
Roy Norman 

D. R. Patterson 
J. L. Patterson 
W. A. Patterson 
Walter Peden 
T. W. Peden 
Waddie Peden 
John Peden, Sr. 
Luther Peden 
Tommie Peden 
J. W. S. Perry 
Grant Perry 
Sam Perry 

Lee Perry 
Newton Perry 
Sam Phillips 
R. L. Reeder 
Elijah Reeder 
Rice Reeder 
J. T. Reeder 
W. D. Reid 
Evans Reid 
Joe Reid 
R. B. Richardson 
Eddie Richardson 
Noble Roy 
Clyde Sansing 
W^. S. Savely 
W. H. Savely 
Scott Savely, Jr. 
John Savely, Sr. 



Frank Savely 

Elisha Saxon 

Glen Saxon 

J. J. Saxon 

Tom Saxon 

Fed Saxon 

Bud Saxon 

C. K. Saxon 

Ivy Seay 

Jim Self 

W. J. Shelton 

Bob Shelton 

J. W. Smith 

Rush Smith 

Word Smith 

L. B. Stewart 

Stanton Stewart 

Davy Stewart 

I. D.^ Stacy 

Balaam Stacy 

Columbus Stegall 

W. A. Thomas 

Frank Thompson 

Henry Thompson 

J. R. Thompson 

Sam Tiller 

J. O. Turner 

B. W. Turner 

J. S. Waldrop 

Johnnie Walker 

G. Washington 

Ivy Washington 

J. H. Warren 

B. G. Weeks 

Luther West 

J. D. Wilson 

J. W. Winter 

W. F. Winter 

A. M. Westmoreland 

Fife Williams 

El Williams 

Smith Williams 

J. A. Williams 

Richard Williams 

W. H. Yarbrough 

Boyd Yarbrough 



RAD HARRILL REED 25 



WHO'S WHO AT HOME 

After writing to all those away from home, a desire to perpetuate the life 
story of our "Who's Who" right here in Houlka caused my good mother to 
write for me 78 letters to the "homefolks." I am sure that some were left 
out, having been away from town three years and not fainiliar with the new 
population. So none were shunned intentionally. Sixty-six answered the 
letters, some short, some long and some almost blank. Those who failed 
were: Ashkenaz, Zenas Bullard, O. T. Gaines, J. G. Johnson, John Luker, T. J. 
Phillips, Leo Phillips, W. V. Roberts, J. E. Savely, Frank Thompson, R. B. 
Wessels, and W. C. Worrell. They are arranged alphabetically and not ac- 
cording to chronology or prominence. All are men who make Houlka a good 
town, a pleasant town and an enterprising town. 



WILLIAM LARKIN ABERNETHY. 
Miller and Mechanic. 

Near the little town of Red Land, in Pontotoc County, W. L. Abernethy 
was born on July H, 1845. His education was limited to the Red Land and 
Shiloh public schools. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Vance Abernethy, 
were or humble circumstances and little Larkin had to work, and work hard, 
to help keep the pot boiling and some clothes on his back. They were of 
Irish and English ancestry, moving from North Carolina to Alabama, and 
thence to Mississippi. 

In 1866, after he had served in the war, he returned to the old home and 
began work on the farm. For six years he "shined" around the hoops of 
the various flowers in the country and finally on January 2, 1872, he and 
Miss Francis Savely came to a definite understanding, looking square at the 
preacher. 

The following children were born to this union: Thomas Franklin, 
Samuel Richard McCane, Addie Ann, Evvie Jane, Walter Lee, James Arthur, 
Eldridge Gates, C. M. and Jasper. On October 9, 1891, his wife, and a most 
estimable and beautiful lady she was, died after a very severe illness. 

After four years as a widower, he was married to Mrs. D. L. Enochs, of 
Ellzey, Miss., a lady of excellent Christian character and industry. To this 
union have been born six children: Francis Lorene, Curtis, Belon, Vance, 
Mitchell and June. 

He belongs to the Missionary Baptists and carries through life the excel- 
lent motto of "Honesty is the best policy." His occupation was formerly that 
of a farmer, but now he does shop work in town and grinds the best meal 
that the Houlka people have had the pleasure of eating in a long, long time. 

He thinks Houlka is a good average town and lives here "because he has 
no other place to hang his hat." His home is in old Houlka and his shop in 
the new town near the Thomas livery stable. A man who attends to his own 
business and lets the other man's alone — kind and sympathetic — a genial, 
good man. 

DAN H. ALEXANDER 
Section Foreman. 

"Big Dan" was born on August 2, 1882, four miles south of Old Houlka, 
near the one-time postoffice of Ridge, Miss. His father, James Warren Alex- 
ander, was from South Carolina, and his mother, Mollie Flanigan, was a 
native Mississippian. Both of Scotch-Irish descendants. 

Dan attended only the Houlka school, finishing most of the prescribed 
courses. During the 'teens of his life he worked on a farm and did public 
work when opportunity afforded. For several months he worked in Southern 



26 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

lumber mills as grader of fine lumber and held other jobs connected with the 
company. 

On September 2, 1904, Dan was married to Miss Myrtle L. Williams, 
daughter of Justice Fife Williams, and a lady of most excellent character and 
refined womanhood. One child, Loys Hilda, brightens the lives of this de- 
voted couple. He belongs to the Methodist church and is a member of the 
great W. O. W. His present occupation is track foreman for the N. O. M. & 
C. R. R., obtained after a patient and persevering elTort for three or four 
years. His work is strictly up to standard and holds the distinction of having 
one of the best roadbeds on the line according to the soil it goes through. 
The height of his ambition is to climb higher on the ladder of fame and do 
all the good he can do to all the people he can in all the ways he can. With 
iron rails and crossties he is building as strong a ladder to better position 
and salarj^ in railroad circles as could be builded anywhere in the realm of 
traindom. His motto is "Honesty, Truth and Friendship." Quoting — "I live 
in Houlka because I think I can make as honest a living here as elsewhere, 
and am in reach of good churches and school. I think Houlka is a very good 
place for any one who desires to locate among good people, and good health, 
good schools and good churches, and I think the time is very near when 
Houlka will rank high on the map with other cities of importance." 

Dan has striven and has succeeded. He is always a gentleman — never 
forgetting that there are others besides himself. He's a small man in stature 
but big in heart and goodness. 



WILLIAM HENRY ANDREWS 
Machinist. 

January 25, 1863, when the clouds of war were bursting from the Gulf to 
Gettysburg, with the mighty thunder and rumble of booming cannon and the 
rattle of musketry, there was born in Chickasaw county to David and Nancy 
Ellen Crenshaw Andrews a little boy, who is now known by hundreds of people 
as Will Andrews, popular miller and ginner. His parents w^ere of Scotch- 
Irish descent and pioneers from Pennsylvania to Mississippi, 94 years ago. 
They finally settled on the banks of the Chuquetonchee four miles east of 
old Houlka, and for many years ran a gin and grist mill from water power 
that was easily controlled to move the big wheel into a steady motion. So 
around this old mill Mr. Andrews grew into manhood, going to school for 
a few terms in the Okolona, Shiloh and Red Land schools. 

Miss Mattie Lee Savely, a very excellent lady of industrious womanhood, 
and the very helpmate that Mr. Andrews needed to make him a happy home, 
became his wife on January 7, 1887. Willie Frank, John David, Henry Lee, 
Susie and Leroy are the children of this union. 

Mr. Andrews is a Baptist and lives the teachings of that church with a 
spirit of good will to man and with the motto of "Be sure you are right and 
then go ahead." In the upbuilding of the town he has been a factor that 
meant something in the way of industry and strict attention to business. 
Hundreds and hundreds of cotton bales have been turned from his gins into 
the markets of the tow^n, and thousands of corn sacks have left his grist mill 
with as fine bread as could be ground on any rocks in Mississippi. He is 
a careful business man and knows the this-and-that of machinery with 
thorough knowledge of its practical application. 

"I live in Houlka because I like the town and the people." 

WILLIE FRANK ANDREWS. 
Merchant and Cotton Buyer. 

May 4, 1888, goes down on the great page of history as the date of one 
and only one important event, the birth of Willie Frank, first son of Mr. and 
Mrs. W. H. Andrews. The woodland about his home rang with the glorious 
melodies of the birds, flitting from ground to nest in the happiness of build 



R A D H A R R I L L R E E D 27 

ing their wonderful little homes. In an environment like this, as the water 
swished over the dam and rumbled the old mill into movement, as the axe 
of the choppers and the saws of the woodmen sang their way into the heart 
of the leviathans that grew in mighty proportions near his home, and the 
sound of a thrilling fox chase as the hounds leaped fast and still faster 
through the hills and valleys — was Willie Frank, reared from babyhood 
into a sprightly boy and into manhood. 

Going to the school near his home for a few years, he afterwards moved 
to Houlka and studied through a part of two terms in the High school of 
the town. Then he attended the Memphis Business College and completed 
a commercial course that has done him much good in his profession as a 
merchant and cotton buyer. 

He is a Baptist and a W. O. W. Lives the motto of "Be sure you are right 
and then go ahead." Lives here "Because it is my home and I think oppor- 
tunities are better here than elsewhere. Don't think the people can be sur- 
passed by any town of its size." 

In January last, he had the misfortune of getting his store burned, the 
goods being saved by quick and faithful efforts of tlie scanty clad brigade. 
It did not daunt him and he is back in business and making good. Willie 
Frank is a strictly good man — makes his point with a quotation — looks know- 
ingly at "futures" — can spot a man in mischief — never fleeces a man, still 
he deals in the article — doesn't try to corner the market, but goes his way 
buying and selling according to the standard of the business world. Withal, 
a good sample. 

ROBERT E. ATWELL 
Cashier Bank of Houlka. 

"Shay, Misser Attle, shay whut 'oud yer charge a feller fer keepin' er 
hundud er bout hundud bucks fer me an' old lady in dis er bank?" 

"Why, Mr. So-so, we don't charge for keeping your money, we pay you to 
let us have the use of it. Do you get me?" 

With a flash of wonder over his face and a "Shay yer do?" he cautiously 
and tremblingly pushes under the little gate the crumpled hundred that had 
possibly been worn in his wife's belt, or stuck in some crack for many years. 
He gets a slip of deposit and a checkbook, enquires more into its safe-keeping, 
and stumbles out. Next day the depositor makes a run on the bank for his 
hundred for fear it might "bust" like he dreamed the night after depositing 
the wad. Such is the daily life, sometimes more tedious and bothersome than 
the foregoing, of the popular and genial Bob Atwell. Born in Batesville, 
Miss., on October 9, 1886, he immediately informed the family that he wanted 
pants and a chance to get out and hustle. His parents, Robert Marshall and 
Nannie Hamerick Atwell, were descended from the Scotch-Irish, the father 
coming into Mississippi from North Carolina in 1870, and his mother from 
Missouri about the same year. 

Batesville High School first taught him how to "figger" and to add a 
column with accuracy and rapidity. "Interest" grew as the days and months 
flew by and he accepted it all with grace and cheerfulness. Played safe as 
he changed from book to book, making every spare nioment count so it would 
amount to better account later on. Every item worthy of note went to his 
credit as an asset to his already good stock of knowledge. Next, he attended 
the Southern Normal College and then to Bowling Green Business University, 
Bowling Green, Ky. Before coming to the Bank of Houlka he worked in the 
Bank of Vardaman, giving up the position there to the very great regret of 
the Vardaman bankers. At Houlka he has served as Cashier with all the 
faithfulness and squareness that any banker in the world could desire from 
their employees. He never registers a kick, nobody has a mortgage on his 
heart nor a draft on his soul, has never entered the bonds of matrimony 
nor delved very deep into a "sinking fund to pay a floating debt." A man 
wilhout liabilities, a man who can cash up the kale, a man who can vault over 
a big bunch of checks with a good balance, and the man who listens to the 
golden shower on the marble slab without a thought of trying to Hunter 



28 HO ULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

Raiiie. His fixtures are of Presbyterian and Masonic type, and for their cause 
will gladly "teller" tale of "Iruthhood" when occasion demands. 

His motto is: "If you want a thing well done, do it yourself." He's Bobby 
to the quick, too. Believes in smiling out loud and can rip the cover ofT a 
laugh with all the rippling and ripping rhythm that comes from the gleeful 
gurgles of his funnybone. Even in church he can rake his tongue across his 
vocal chords and sling showers of distressings over the congregation that 
would make the Rock of Ages wabble with seasickness and slip off on a 
visit to the Titanic. Honest, though, he can "sing" the tangotrottum with as 
much hesitation, or even dance it with as much poverty-strickc]i shivers and 
quivers as the great Pavlowa or any of the Metropolitan monstrosities. 

"Houlka is the coming town of North Mississippi. I believe in the people, 
their genius, their brain and their brawn. I believe in their honesty, their 
integrity and their dependability. Nothing can stand in the way of their com- 
mercial advancement and prosperity, and I believe that in our town are being 
worked out great problems, the solution of which will be for the benefit of 
all the citizens." 

JOHN WESLEY HOLLADAY BASKIN 
Real Estate Dealer and Telephone Manager. 

"Hello! Thatchoo, Mister Editor of Okolona Messenger?" The grape- 
vine line was buzzing from Houston to Okolona in 1864 with the news of a 
new-born babe. That little fellow was J. W. H., and his parents were Wil- 
liam P. and Sarah HoUaday Baskin. Both pioneering from Georgia and Ten- 
nessee in 1838. 

His education in text books was limited to a few months in the school 
near his home. Owing to meager circumstances, brought on by the ravages 
of war, he had to work from sheer necessity of making a comfortable living. 
He persevered — kept plugging — dreamed of future ease from work well done. 
Established a small store north of Houston, said to have been constructed 
from goods boxes brought on his back. Most of his stock was carried from 
Houston in a similar manner and it wasn't long before he had made a few- 
nickels to enlarge the business. From that little store and "stick-to-itness" 
came his present day "goods." 

Later on he moved to Houlka; but, before this, married Miss Fannie 
Howell, of Van Vleet, a lady of unlimited geniality and good cheer for every- 
body, on July 16, 1882. Two children, both now grown and married, William 
Alonzo and Modess, are the joys of this union. 

In Old Houlka he established a general store on west side of Houston and 
Pontotoc road, at the crossing, and after a few months sold goods under the 
firm name of Baskin & Brown. In that store the first telephone Houlka ever 
had was installed, causing much wonderment among the natives. It \yas 
a long time before all the people roundabout believed in voice transmission 
from Houlka to Pontotoc, Houston and Okolona. The funny things Mr. 
Baskin has seen and heard in his 'phone business would fill a book. Foolish 
questions about "boxes" have tickled his very "goozle." When men with 
cotton going to town sixteen miles away could get Mr. Baskin to 'phone to 
some man in Okolona to please order for "so and so" from Jackson, Tenn., 
one gallon of firewater, and it was ready for them when they got there, then 
the telephone as a fake was no more. It was then a high step to "civiliza- 
tion." 

When the new town was in its infancy, Mr. Baskin moved his stock of 
goods and immediately began a new business of groceries and furniture and 
undertakers' supplies. He builded a comfortable cottage on the corner south 
of the present Methodist church. In this home he has a large switchboard 
connecting most all the homes and stores in the old and new towns and on 
"speaking terms" with several towns nearby and as far as Memphis. He has 
sold out his business of merchandising and has gone into the real estate world 
with energy and enthusiasm. He has quite a number of valuable homes and 
lots in the new town and is enjoying, in his life of over fifty hard-working 
years, the dream of his boyhood. Is a member of the Methodist church, and 



RAD H A R R I L L REED 29 

is engaged actively in its Sunday school work. His motto is "Whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so unto them," while his ambi- 
tion is "Prove all things and hold fast that which is good." He lives in 
Houlka because "I like it best," and "I think Houlka has some as good people 
as can be found." 

Mr. Baskin is an influential business man — sound business sense and a 
potent factor in the upbuilding of the town and country. 

W. ALONZO BASKIN 
Grocery Merchant and Alderman. 

Lon Baskin began on May 3, 1883, and he has been beginning ever since. 
Not stopping in the middle either, for when he begins a task he believes 
in finishing it. He's some hustler, too, even if his avoirdupois does run to 
the rotund region of his equator. 

He is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. H. Baskin, and was born near 
Wesley Chapel, "when a much smaller boy than he is at the moment you are 
reading this line." Climbing the stairway of life, he developed from the 
toddling steps into a more youthful view of the top and then glided into 
maturity with a practical knowledge of applying one thing to promote other 
things in the rush and rattle of modern business manipulations. 

Besides the schools around his home, he went for a while to the A. and M. 
college and became familiar with a gray uniform, shoot the zip, sinkers and 
salve, bunks of fine feathers and lessons that were so easy that he felt 
ashamed to hurt the Professor's feelings ! Milking sixty cows before break- 
fast and hoeing four acres of cotton by dinner, drilling all the afternoon and 
feeding "eleventy-leven" goats after supper, "kinder" looked too easy for 
Lon and he came home to go to work "sho nuff." 

After working in his father's store at old Houlka for some months, he 
and Miss SalJie Sue Harris of Tuscumbia, Ala., came to a plain case of Appo- 
mattox and joined the union on August 18, 1904. She was "jes' nacherly" 
born for Lon and not a more pleasant, refined Christian character could he 
have found if he had searched from "Memfuss" to Michigan, or from Menin- 
gitis to Mentholatum. They are happily "snugged" in a neat little cottage 
east of town. 

Lon is a Methodist, a W. O. W. and member Improved Order of Red Men. 
His ambition is "To have plenty," and his motto is the very life he lives — "To 
treat all alike." He lives here "Because he can't get away." Lonnie — the gen- 
tleman. 

J. C. BEASLEY 
Hardware Merchant and Bank Director. 

Alabama has one date in her history that she just smiles out loud when 
she "thinks" about it. That date was June 30, 1862, and since that time it 
has been celebrated as the birthday of one Jake — jolly, jovial, jigging Jake 
Beasley. That old State lost a good man when his parents, William Anderson 
and Delph Ann Pyron Beasley, moved into Calhoun in 1865. 

His education was first begun in the schools near his home and then to 
the Houston High for further advancement in the science and literature of 
that day. With that and what he has learned from the natural association of 
many classes of people, he has made himself into a man of extraordinary 
judgment and business acumen. So in his work he knows what's what, 
when, where, why and whithersoever whence, the whereas of wherein and 
withal the wherewithal of various pockelbooks. 

On March 23, 1902, a lady of rare mental attainment and Christian char- 
acter changed her name from Mary Eleanor Crosthwait to Mrs. Jake Beasley 
forever happily everafter. To this union have been born three children — 
Eldred, Wilma and Madge. To rear these children into useful man and 



30 H OULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

women, to keep his wife supplied with hread and meat for the tahle and to 
succeed in business is his incessant and glorious ambition. 

L^ncle Jake is a Mason and a W. O. W. Belongs to the great church of 
"Kindness" on "Good Will" street, and has the most unique motto of "Put 
yourself in the other fellow's place." If that isn't Jake Beasley, who in — 
is it? 

"I live here because I like the place. The town is second to none, con- 
sidering size and natural advantages. The people as a whole, are energetic, 
generous and hospitable." 

Moving here from Calhoun when the doodle doodled down to Houlka with 
its dinky engines and "Pullman Palaces," Mr. Beasley helped establish the 
Houlka Hardware Co., and, after having this partner and that for several 
years, it was finally merged into grocery, furniture and hardware business 
that now occupies two big buildings on the west row. 

He has no ax to grind with anybody — keeps the hatchet buried — always 
hits the nail on the finger — bridles his tongue — always in harness for duty — 
makes investments pan out — sells hardware that won't wear out your strength 
— deals on the square — whips things into spick and spi>n display-plows 
through work like a traction engine — shovels bad things in the bucket — keeps 
the furniture of his brain shop polished — has an iron will and leather lungs 
— "tins" to his own business — dishes out wise saws now and then — never 
bolts bis food to tighten his belting — chisels his way into trade — almost went 
"buggy" when he thought the meningitis had struck his head -sometimes gets 
stove-up — keeps a bit to brace the other fellow — never slips a cog — never 
knifes a man in the back — "i)lumb" on the level — "heels" a lame leg with rub- 
ber-has corns on his sole — is a clean cut, Kv?en Kutter man, and on the fiddle 
it is "Jakey get the gun." To "wag-on" would wear hard on his collar and to 
rake over any more harrowing details of his machinery as a lubricant to the 
wheels of his shafting and to dig further into the links and chains of his life 
might snap a trace or lock me in a trap or get me at logger-heads with his 
point of view. So he has been "handled with care" according to the standard 
idea of the key to this book, and that is to bolster up the stock of the men 
herein with a little oil of praise for work well done, poured willingly on the 
bearings of their system to make the axle of life run smoother, better and for 
good will toward man, 

DAVID STAFFORD BISHOP 
Rural Mail Man For Uncle Sam. 

Born to John Robert and Julia Rhodes Bishop, whose ancestors came 
from South Carolina and Alabama into Chickasaw, and who trace their 
nationality from Scotland and Ireland, a little boy, who is now known as 
Stall" by hundreds of people in this section. Van Vleet was the town of his 
birth, and among the steep hills and gullies he wore out more pants possibly 
that he did books, still he obtained a good common school education along 
with the big experience of learning the efficiency of certain bottom lands 
during the nice "warm" season of the year. 

Moving to Houlka when things were booming with industry, he did public 
work with his team of almost white mules, hauling lumber, and later on run- 
ning the scraper for the brick mill. Then on August 1, 1908, he was chosen 
by civil service commission to take charge of Route No. 2, running out to Mr. 
Winters, on around nearly to big lake, and back into main road again this 
side of Schooner Valley. It was the heaviest route of the three, and for four 
years he carried the mail through rain and storm, finally having to stand an 
operation for appendicitis that caused him to lose much valuable time. Then 
in the beginning of '13, he was given the East Route, going north to old Isbell 
I)lace, then to Shiloh, thence to Coleville, on through to J. W. Hamilton's 
farm and then back to Houlka. All the people like him, love him, appreciate 
his coming through any kind of weather. In a month he handles nearly 
5,000 pieces of mail of all kinds, together with numerous money orders and 
registers. It is some job, but he is "Stafford on the dot." You can rely on 



RAD HARRILL REED 31 

him that he will do what you ask him to do, and more, too. Kindness with 
him is just Staff, that's all. He is friendly, sympathetic, original. 

After Uncle Sam had carried a few letters to and from Miss Mamie Hol- 
laday, the most industrious daughter of Mr. John Holladay, who lives four 
miles north, and a lady whose excellent Christian womanhood would make 
Staff the happiest man in the world, they decided to cancel all disagreements, 
stamp out all trouble forever, and on December 10, 1905, they made a special 
trip to the preacher, and were "jined" for life, part and parcel, and no postage 
due — except ten bones for the preacher. They have one child six years old, 
Lounette, and Daddy Staff' wouldn't take a billion tons of money for her "no 
time." 

Staff is a Methodist and a W. O. W. Believes and acts the Golden Rule, 
and has a great ambition to become the owner of a big rich farm, well 
stocked, watered, and all necessary buildings in good shape. Lives in Houlka 
because he likes the people and his work is here. 



ARLIE BISHOP 
Mechanic. 

Arlie, the village blacksmith, the man with the strong arm, the man who 
the children watch as they trip homeward from school, eagerly watching the 
flaming forge and the white hot iron shooting sparks into every corner, and 
Arlie the blacksmith "under the spreading chestnut tree," was born in Van 
Vleet, in 1890. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. John Robert Bishop, and when 
they moved near Houlka, Arlie came too and decided to follow the trade of 
his father, that of a mechanic. 

Van Vleet and Old Houlka schools were the limit of his book education, 
but even yet he finds time to keep in touch with the pulse of the world by 
reading the modern magazines that come to his home. He is a well rounded 
young man, and capable of battling any problem that means an honest living. 

September 15, 1912, he was married to Miss Georgia Thomas, a very genial 
lady of Christian character and "get busy" hustler. If Arlie ever frowned 
while in her presence, something must certainly have been wrong. He is 
a Methodist and a W. O. W. His ambition is "to strive to go higher," and in 
going that way he carries in his daily duty the motto of "Do right." 

"I live in Houlka because 1 like the place and the people. It is a grand 
little town, and we have some of the best people on earth." 

Arlie is on the job from morn till night, and his work is up to standard 
of any mechanic in the town. He is happy in his work and devoted in his 
home. 

JOHN M. BLACK 
Hardware Salesman and Bank Director. 

The longest day of the year '67, June 21st, had quietly slipped into the 
shadows of a sultry night. Then, just as everybody had blanketed their 
chickens for bedtime, a tiny baby opened two little eyes into a big Alabama 
world. John was the young man's name, and he made the home of William 
Miller and Elizabeth Louisa Rogers Black his first important visit and con- 
tinued therein as a regular and free boarder for many years. His people 
were Scotch-Irish, and settled in Alabama long before the mighty war of 
brother against brother. His mother still lives in Old Alabam'. 

His education was obtained in the State of his birth, completing nearly 
all of the prescribed courses available in those days of meager school facili- 
ties. Gathering knowledge here and there in the church and speaking halls, 
and in observation with eyes wide open, and in listening with ears well 
"laundered," until he has come into a well-informed man, well-equipped 
with good business perceptibility and thorough acquaintance with the evolu- 
tion of commercial and religious problems. Not a better salesman or a 
more polite man can be found; he is one of the few very best. He's Johnnie 
on the deal. 



32 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

Miss Modena Aycock, a sincere church worker and a most excellent and 
rare character, became the wife of Mr. Black on December 24, 1896. They 
are a devoted couple and live for each other the true fellowship of Christian 
people. 

From Troy they moved to Houlka about the year 1905, first living in the 
big boarding house at old Houlka. Later on he bought the old W. J. Green 
home west of town, and there he now lives on one of the richest plots of 98 
acres of any ground in Houlka bottom. 

For several years he has been working as salesman for the Houlka 
Hardware Company. He has the confidence of all the citizens of the sur- 
rounding countrj^ and especially of the men he works with in the big furni- 
ture, hardware and grocery departments of the new company. Easy, quiet, 
unassuming, pleasant. Has a smile for everybody, a helping hand in times 
of unfortunate disaster, and is a valuable asset in the religious upbuilding 
of the community. 

He is a punctual member of the Baptist church, and also a very efficient 
teacher in the Sunday school. Besides this, he is a loyal Mason. His motto 
is "Square deal," and his ambition is to be a stock raiser and a good one. 
He thinks the town "Al," and lives here because he likes both town and 
people. Everybody believes in Mr. Black as a genuine good man, free from 
taint of any kind. True as steel, neat dresser, full measure of kindness, and 
a level-headed man. 

W. M. BLAND 

Railroad Agent and Operator. 

rhe subject of this sketch was born into the home of Robert Galbreath 
and Sallie Driver Bland on June 26, 1886, in the town of Mathiston, thirty 
miles below Houlka. His parents are of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and moved 
from South Carolina to Mississippi about 1856. 

Mr. Bland's schooling was obtained at Mathiston, Maben High school and 
M. C. C. College. After several years as a student in these schools he was 
employed by the N. O. M. & C. R. R. Co., being transferred to the Houlka 
Agency in the year 1913. As the Agent here, he is popular with all the 
people and serves everybody with politeness and "despatch." He is always 
on time to the dot and when it comes his time to answer the message of the 
angels to meet them in the great Union Station of the far beyond, he ought 
to have a clear track, a through ticket without punches and stop-overs and 
a Pullman berth, for the worry and wear and tear of a country depot. It 
is due him, for his bill of lading is correct according to the rules of the 
railroad. So far his life has been a signal success, although it has been 
filled with dots and dashes, spaces and "ticks." His code of life is "Make 
friends, not enemies." 

He belongs to the Methodist church, the Masonic Lodge, the Order of 
Railroad Telegraphers, and the W. O. W. On Christmas day of 1905, he 
married Miss Alvie Horton, the sweetheart of his dreams, and a lady of 
splendid character. Three children, Lillie Edna, William Odus and Lloyd, 
bless this happy home. 

To express a line or two of his letter, he says : "I think Houlka is the best 
town of its size in North Mississippi. It is building very rapidly and people 
who have not visited our town in the past twelve months would be astonished 
at the improvements made during this short time. I believe in the next five 
years Houlka will double the population of today. Don't think the people 
can be surpassed and it is a pleasure for me to state that I am highly pleased 
to be a citizen of such a growing town." 

ROBERT NATHAN BOYD. 
County Supervisor. 

In the beginning of Chickasaw it was without form and Boyd, and dark- 
ness was upon every trace of its birth. And the evening and the morning 



RAD HARRILL REED 33 



were many years later. Roads had been cut through from village to village. 
People fussed and fumed over it but the roads grew on apace and waxed 
muddy and impassable. God said let there be no fight and there was a fight. 
For the Supervisors could not make the Board smooth to the whims and 
eccentricities of the old chronic complaints. And the evening and the morn- 
ing was December 16, 1850. For it came to pass on that day that the great 
Supervisor of all the counties of the Universe sent into the home of George 
W. and Nancy Caroline Bramlett Boyd, near old Houlka, another Supervisor 
made in His own image, yea created He him, in the present well-known 
Robert Bob Boyd. His ancestry is of Scotch-Irish, French and English, his 
parents moving from South Carolina to Mississippi about 1851. 

First at Houlka, and then for a while at the University of Mississippi, 
Mr. Boyd obtained all of his text book education. Constant thought and ap- 
plication since that time have blended within him all the essence of a well- 
informed, reasonable, conscientious and practical man. 

At the Methodist church in Houston on the Valentine Day of 1883, Miss 
Eliza Naugle, a most estimable lady of Christian character and industrious 
womanhood, marched with Mr. Boyd to the front of the pulpit, and they were 
bound together with a string of words about a million feet long, for better 
or for a little bit better forever and three days. For, lo! these many years 
they have followed the injunction of "I will obey when I can't disobey," until 
they have grown into the happiest of couples and the "bestest" of neighbors. 
Both will never forget how young "Bob" trembled, blinked at a knot in the 
floor and wilted when the "I will" part was heard above the music as it 
strained itself into melody. 

Seven children, Eula Carolyn, Anna Estelle, Robert Ehren, Maylene Eliza- 
beth, Ruth Naugle, John Bertrand and Bernice Bramlett, have blessed this 
happy union, and Daddy and Mommie Boyd live just for the great ambition 
of educating and rearing them to become useful men and women. 

Mr. Boyd is a true Presbyterian and a Mason. Lives the motto of "Always 
look for good in others." For most of his life he has been a farmer. But 
for a few months after his marriage he changed his focus on five dollar Wil- 
liams to a better point of view, as he thought at first, but after he had broken 
several good cameras and plates on the mugs and maps of the people over 
the county, he finally decided to develop some farming lands near old Houlka. 
Picture-making didn't show up as good as he expected — too many solutions 
to fix — there was no opportunity to mount higher, and he didn't relish dark- 
room work anyhow. So he left his handprints on the faces of the patients 
who had the courage to sit and watch the proverbial bird jump from the 
lens and back in again. From that time he has farmed with the average 
success of the farmers. 

In 1911 he ran for Supervisor in second beat and won over his opponents. 
With what money the Board could give he has done the best a man can do 
for the roads of Houlka. But people fuss if this hole and that hole is not 
fixed in three jiffies even if they are ten miles apart. Those who fuss never 
think of the worry attached to such an office and never think he can be in 
only one place at a time. He goes on though, knowing full well that it is 
impossible to please everybody, everywhere, everytime and all the time. His 
work is up to standard in every way and the roads show that improvement 
has been the result of his administration. He says this in his letter: 

"I live in Houlka because I think it is as good, if not better, than any 
place I could find. Living here all my life and as a neighborhood and town, 
its people are hospitable, social and religious." 



WALLACE T. BROWN. 
Merchant and Progressive Farmer. 

In Union, South Carolina, in the year 1856, there was born into the home 
of John and Sarah Golding Brown, a wee-wee boy, in the person of Wallace 
T. Brown. In the red gullies of that State he played with the other school 
children, wearing out patch after patch in sliding down the scoot-the-scoots 




Howard Drug Co. Woodmen Hall. S. S. Stewart Hardware Co. Telephone Exchange. 
O. T. Gaines, General Merchandise. Office Rooms. 




Train Load of Logs and Waste Conveyor. 



RAD HARRILL REED 35 



near the "Little Red School-house." So just in the public schools, all of his 
education was gained. From that he went into the big world of experience 
and broadened his mind with constant observation and open ears. 

When he was twenty-one years of age, he moved to "Old Missipp," and 
engaged in tilling the fertile fields of Chickasaw with average success, and 
then later on established a general store at Brownsville, near the old Shiloh 
church. 

In the year 1879, he was married to Miss Margaret M. Holladay, a highly 
esteemed lady of fine Christian spirit and industrious womanhood. Eleven 
children have been born to this happy union — Willie Frank, Curt, Arthur, 
Vester, Tom, Robert, Calvin, Virgie, Pearl, Mattie, Lucille. 

Mr. Brown is a member of the Methodist church, and lives up to its teach- 
ings with all the zeal of a Christian man in the great ambition of his life 
"To do right." His motto is "Equal rights to all," and in his daily labors 
he practices that precept with faithfulness and truth. He is now a merchant 
of the new town, his store being just south of the Cook grocery. Carries a 
good line of general merchandise and does a very good trade with all the 
surrounding country. Quoting: "I live in Houlka because I like the place, 
and on account of its healthfulness. Its people are composed largely of the 
best citizens that could naturally congregate in a town of its size and industry, 
therefore making it a good place to live." 



B. C. BULLARD 
Merchant. 

Over in the County of Ittawamba, the subject of this article was born 
just sixty-four years ago on July 5. His parents were James G. and Anice 
Lindsey Bullard, their nationality being of English and French — the father 
coming to Mississippi from Virginia in '35, and the mother from Tennessee 
in '37. 

His education was limited to the public schools of Ittawamba and Pon- 
totoc counties, and the war coming on in all of its destruction of property and 
legal tender, kept him from going higher in the lore of literature and science, 
to which he so ambitiously aspired. Living through hard times and good, 
he has come into a man of sound business judgment. 

December, 1881, he married his ideal of womanhood in the person of Miss 
Annie Lesley. To this union have been born — Zenas, Ara, Minnie and Grady. 
He is a Cumberland Presbyterian and lives the good motto of "Onward and 
upward, never looking backward." His ambition is "To make the world 
better by my having lived in it." He says: "I live here because I like the 
people and location. A wide-awake little town of progressive spirit." Mr. 
Bullard is now one of our enterprising merchants. 

JAMES EDGAR COBB. 
Merchant and Bank Director. 

Houlka is largely made up of former Calhoun county citizens. So many 
of them seeing the possibilities of financial advancement and school advant- 
ages, moved with their families to the booming little town and happily estab- 
lished themselves in the social and moral life of the growing population. 
With all these good people came James Edgar Cobb, and not a better man 
could old Calhoun send to us if the county was raked and scraped from 
"kiver to kiver." They grow good men, useful men, honest men, in that sec- 
tion and then send them to Houlka to show us how to live, how to work, 
and how to make the most of our opportunities. 

Banner was the place of his birth, and the day was November 12, 1872. 
He is the oldest child of Thomas Henry and Mary Jane Pennington Cobb, 
who trace their ancestry from the sturdy Irish families coming into Missis- 
sippi from Georgia and Alabama, long before railroads were familiarly 
known in the Southland. 



36 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

His father having died when "P^d" was just ten years old, the responsi- 
bility of the farming interests was left almost entirely upon his young shoul- 
ders, and on account of that his literary education was regretfully limited to 
a few months in the public schools of the county. 

Miss Laura C. Lewelling, the very lady Mr. Cobb needed to help him on 
his way to success, by her excellent traits of character and her energetic 
capacities of making things hustle, became his wife on December 24, 1893. 

In the fall of '96 he moved with his wife to a town near Little Rock, Ark. 
Living there about two years, they moved back to their old home in Banner 
and established a general merchandise business in the firm name of Cobb & 
Stewart. Until the summer of 1905, he carried on this trade with remarkable 
success for an inland store, and on account of his popularity with the people 
as a man of sound business principles and straightforward dealings with 
everybody. 

So in the year '05, he moved to Houlka and began a mercantile business in 
the store now occupied by L. A. Turner, living in the boarding house of old 
Houlka until he could build a home of his own. He chose the corner lot east 
of town where the old crab apple tree landmark stood for so many years, 
and there builded a handsome little cottage for one of the most devoted 
couples in the city of Houlka. 

On January 1, 1908, his stock was consolidated into the Houlka Mercan- 
tile Co., and for six years he served as the popular and efficient manager of 
the firm, making for the business and for himself, a reputation for honesty, 
truthfulness and accommodation. He was and is the gospel of hard work. 
His mind is on his business constantly and not on the other fellow's. Noth- 
ing is too late or too early for him to do — he is "Cobby on the job" always. 
He doesn't know what idleness means, and really doesn't know there is a 
word like it in the language, surely not in his vocabulary of action. Unob- 
strusive in suggestion on any subject, but when asked for advice, he can give 
it and plainly. Ten out of ten times you will find him to be correct. His 
business acumen — knowledge of human nature, foresight in trade conditions 
and expert application of his "think," brands him as the foremost business 
man in the town of Houlka. He deserves it and more. Show me a better 
set of books than he keeps and you've got the "set ups." Every day he 
knows to a cent just the condition of the finances and can tell you your 
account in two jiffies and a wink. The memory of this man is wonderful, 
nothing escapes him and therefore he shows up four-square to all the world. 
It was my pleasure to work with him for a few months, and in all his busi- 
ness transactions he was as honest as the day is long — accurate, quick, pro- 
ficient. With both white and colored people he gave equal squareness. Never 
having to "hum and haw" over anything, for what he said was fact, and facts 
were his trademarks. In 1913, the Mercantile was moved into the Houlka 
Hardware, and under the firm of Houlka Hardware & Furniture Co., run by 
Cobb, Beasley & Harrill, they have developed into the biggest merchants in 
the town. 

His motto is "Treat my fellow man like I want to be treated, and honest at 
all times in my dealings." With that is his ambition "To succeed in any 
business I undertake." He says: "I live here because I think Houlka is the 
most prosperous and enterprising town in North Mississippi, and made up 
with congenial people of both social and moral qualities." He is a man of 
his word — what he says he means, and thinks three times before he speaks it. 
Kind, sympathetic, liberal, moral, jolly and "all round" gentleman. 



WILLIAM A. COOK 
Merchant. 

Billy Cook, as his friends know him, was born on May 9, 1865, in the 
western part of Calhoun County. His parents, Archibald and Malinda Ever- 
ette Cook, were of Scotch-Irish extraction, and came into Mississippi from 
Tennessee and Alabama in 1828 and 1832. 



RAD HARRILL REED 37 



His schooling was limited to the Calhoun County public schools and Nor- 
mal College at Houston. Four years after his last year in school, he was 
married to Miss Emma Lantrip, a lady of great beauty and refined Christian 
character, on February 22, 1891. His children are, Myrtice, Grady, Otis, 
Vivian, Merrell and Doyle. 

Mr. Cook is a member of the Methodist Church, W. O. W. and K. P. His 
occupation is that of a merchant, having followed the business of gents' 
furnishings and groceries for several years. For a year or two he was head 
clerk in the dry goods store of G. W. Stubblefield and was considered the 
best stock-keeper in all the country roundabout. His store is a model of 
neatness and cleanliness. Everything is arranged in strict accordance to 
business principles and always in easy access. Carries a complete line of 
fancy groceries and a side line of fine shoes. In whatever department he 
works, there is no disorder. 

His ambition is to attain a greater success in his profession, and all 
through life his motto has been fair dealings with all men. Quoting: "I 
think the people of Houlka are up to the standard in every respect. It is as 
good a town as I can find for a man of my ability to live." 

Mr, Billy is an all round, trustworthy man. Careful in business, firm in 
convictions and polite in manner and word with everybody. 



GRADY COOK 
Editor and Merchant. 

Grady Cook, oldest son of the Mr, Cook just preceding, was born at 
EUzey, in Calhoun County, February 17, 1894. A future great man had come 
into its borders. 

Very early in life he applied himself to the intricacies of a First Reader 
and Speller. After several sessions in the Cherry Hill school at his home, 
he moved with his parents to Houston and there advanced further into text 
book lore. Always he has leaned toward a literary education and on into 
the unlimited fields of journalism. When a little fellow he was an enthusi- 
astic reader of the page in the Commercial Appeal devoted to young writers 
and their drawings. To that page he contributed many little articles that 
brought forth praise from the editor and from many of its members. A con- 
test was on and the boys and girls were to write on what they would like to 
be in life. Characteristic of Grady, he wrote his very heart in something 
like this: "Many may want to be a president or a senator, a doctor or a 
lawyer, a preacher or a lecturer, and on and on through the great professions, 
but of all the ambitions of all the world I would rather be a MAN." That is 
Grady, day in and day out. Along with that ambition is his wish "To be 
more than a mere atom of humanity," and in living up to that wish he exudes 
the practical motto of "Help those around me." 

Besides helping to sell goods in his father's store, he helps his brother 
Otis as the "proprietor" of the Houlka Pressing Emporium, and does his 
very best to impress into the "duds" of the Beau Brummels a new life of 
"in-creased" beauty. He is the Upholsterer of Old Age, as he puts it in his 
ad. So the old jab that his time is pressing, suits him fittingly. There is not 
a wrinkle or a spot about his character, never a hole or a patch in the life he 
lives. 

Grady is a member of the Methodist Church and also a W, O. W. Houlka 
has never had a more enthusiastic Woodman than Grady Cook. He injects 
life into their meetings — gets out in the highways and talks up the Big Doings 
— makes the fellows interested. That's the loyal Woodman and the kind 
Houlka needs. 

"I live in Houlka because of its many advantages, and because I like the 
people. The people are up to the standard and the town has every facility 
needed for big business. The co-operation is not as good as it could be, 
still it is better than most towns of its size, and very much larger. There 
is an excellent surrounding country of farming lands and if the people would 



38 HOULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

display a more harmonious attitude in a get-together movement of extension, 
the complete trade of a big radius could be brought here easily. We need 
good roads and more of them. Outside of this, Houlka is as near perfect as 
can be." 

Grady is a moral young man, cleanly of tongue and habit, friendly and 
appreciative. When people speak of him, and that is often, the expression 
is always, "That's a good boy." Grady the manly man — the gentle-man! 

Grady is the youngest Consul Commander in a W. O. W. membership of 
700,000. ^ 

WILLIAM T. COMBS. 
Merchant and Telephone Operator. 

"Tallyfoams," or "phoneboxes," as some of the people dub them, had 
never come into much prominence when W. T. Combs made his first "Hello" 
into the land of hanging grapes in Pontotoc county. Nevertheless, on Feb- 
ruary 13, 1870, all the natives of the vicinity were called in to speak to the 
little man, and the more they transmitted or connected kisses from their 
snuffy lips to his, the more he would ring of! into spasms of louder, still 
louder. So when the batteries of kisses had been disconnected, he slipped 
a peg or two deeper into the happy arms of his parents, William Marion and 
Ella Neely Combs. Their ancestry being of straight old English stock, hav- 
ing moved into this country long before the war from Georgia and South 
Carolina respectively. 

His early schooling was obtained in the rural schools of his home county, 
and coupled with that of books, the big experience of bucking up against the 
world has made him a good citizen and business man of the town. 

He now runs the exchange of the new Neely system, giving excellent 
service through dozens and dozens of phones. Under the firm name of 
Green & Combs, he sells groceries of first-class brands in the store once occu- 
pied by Phillips, and later by Westmoreland. 

On August 23, 1896, he was married to Miss Nettie Brooks, a lady of in- 
trinsic worth and industry. Their children are: Vera, Louella, Erlene, Lany 
and Mary. Vera and Erlene have been popular "hello girls" since the new 
line was put in. 

His motto, "Equal rights to all and special privileges to none," while his 
great ambition is to be "Worth something to his country." He lives in 
Houlka "because I think it is a good place, and good enough for the average 
man." 

Mr. Combs is a Methodist and a W. O. W. A man of smiles for every- 
body, and a good word for the rest of them. Sympathetic, kind, and a friend 
to man. 

WILLIAM NEWTON DODDS 

Methodist Minister. 

Numbers of preachers were going about the nation in the days of '77, 
doing "Colossian" Acts among the people, singing Psalms and quoting Pro- 
verbs, making Bevelations of all the Chronicles in the Bible and altogether 
making a great Mark in the ripe fields of Timothy for the King of Kings. 
They had made an Exodus from "Generations to Revolutions," as the old 
minister commented on his sermon, but the Job was not complete; there 
were not enough men to carry the Gospel into the byways and hedges, and 
so it came to pass that on the third day of February, '77, another good 
Samaritan was come unto the house of Dodds in the land of Union county. 
His father and mother, William Preston and Martha Franklin Ross Dodds, 
christened the little roly-poly boy with the name of William Newton, and 
that it has been for, lo! these many moons. His ancestral nationality is 
straight Scotch-Irish, the father coming from Macon, Tenn., in '51, and 
mother from Peach Grove, Tenn., in January, '58. 



RADHARRILLREED 39 



Rev. Dodds has been a farmer most of his life, knowing what it is to go bare- 
footed until eighteen, and to church in a bumpty-bump back of a wagon 
on a quilt. In the winter he studied in the inefficient public schools and 
calmly admits in his letter that he had a thought now and then as to what 
he was and what he was going to do in the future. He was twenty years 
old before he ever owned a ready-made suit or any of the seeming necessities 
of a young man's life. It was work and work all the time, and during the 
many turns of the row he was ploughing through life there came to him the 
wonderful call to preach. The modesty of the man fought it off and kept on 
fighting it, thinking of his unfitness for such a great work as the mastery of 
speech or interpretation, would necessarily require. So he went to Arkansas 
to get rich and shun the call, leaving the sweetheart of his dreams for the 
other fellow to "shine" around without fear of rivalry. He failed to get 
rich, came home, sent his rival to Arkansas and married the girl — the "best 
lady in all the world," in 1901. Ten years of the best part of his life he 
admits "were fighting God and that man." 

In '07 he began the ministry on the Rainey Circuit in Tippah County, 
having six churches, three each in Benton and Tippah. In '09 and '10 he 
was on the Tishomingo Circuit with seven churches. Then to Baldwyn in 
'11 with five flocks to "feed." From there he came unto the green pastures of 
Houlka where "a few are stalled and some are frozen." He is now in his third 
year and serves Concord, Wesley, Asbury and Houlka. Sometimes he gets 
a shekel or two and then it is yum-yum ham and gravy. 

His ambition is "To help make the world better by my life and by the word 
of God." His motto is "Do good to all, from the richest to the poorest." In 
his ministry at Houlka he has come into the hearts of the people with all 
the love and affection that is due him for his work in the church and for the 
public interest he has for the uplift of the town and country. 

Three children — Carey Preston, Perrj'^ Ross and Nannie Ruth, brighten 
this happy home of true Christian workers with characteristic cuteness of the 
modern child. Going from flock to flock, he carries with him the simple sal- 
vation of Christ, the great Sheijherd, who meekly traveled hither and thither 
showing mercy and kindness among the multitude. 



J. E. FERGUSON 
Rural Route Mail Carrier. 

In the little town of Pittsboro, Mr. Ferguson was born on November 14, 
1856. His parents, William Franklin and Sara Elizabeth Shirley Ferguson, 
were of good old English stock, the father moving from Tennessee at the close 
of the war and the mother a native Mississippian. 

His schooling was limited to Pittsboro and Water Valley, having to hump 
for himself early in life. He farmed for several years until he was given the 
position of mail carrier on Route Three, running over twenty miles through 
the Saxon, Norman, Waldrop and Burgess neighborhoods. He has served in 
this capacity for four or five years very efficiently and satisfactorily. The 
patrons of his route have much confidence in him and know that their mail 
will be attended to with faithfulness and accuracy. 

January 6, 1878, he was married to Miss Loraine Haselline Collums, a lady 
of industrious womanhood, and from this union have come the following 
children: Sim, Pearl, Cora, Alice, Price, Forrest and Lillie Bell. 

He is a Baptist and a Columbia Woodman. Is ambitious to "Make an 
honest living and pay my just debts," while his motto in life is "Do as I would 
be done by." Quoting from his letter: 

"I think that Houlka is one of the best towns of its size I ever saw, and 
one of the most pleasant places to live in I have ever lived. The people are 
among the best that can be found. Law-abiding, high-toned and accommodat- 
ing, ever ready to lend a helping hand in times of distress." 

Mr. Ferguson is a quiet, unostentatious man. Attends strictly to his own 
business and meddles not with the affairs, either small or great, of others. 



40 H O U L K A YESTERDAY TOD A Y 

SIMEON MATHIAS FREEMAN 
City Marshal. 

"Oyez, Oyez, the court is now open," so sayeth Uncle Doc, with a twist of 
his face, three blinks of his eyes and a great big pufT. Who ever saw a happier 
man? Uncle Doc, the long and tall. Uncle Doc, "the poar boy," and Uncle 
Doc, the campaign singer! History records the songs he slung at the voters 
of Pontotoc many years ago. The woods rang with rhythm of "When the 
vote's counted out, he would have 'em all." He will admit though now, and 
with a wink of his wonderful eyes, that he didn't get 'em all as he so eagerly 
hoped in the outset. Finally he won out and now is the present and popular 
marshal of Houlka. He runs them in when things get tanked along the 
equator; as the expression goes, "He puts the power to 'em." Everybody likes 
Uncle Doc, and he likes everybody. 

On May 7, 1858, he made his first appearance in the great court of 
Pontotoc County and grew up and up and still up among the red gullies and 
grape vine swings of that section. His father's family came from Georgia 
in '32, and his mother's from South Carolina in '30. Both of Scotch-Irish 
descent and sturdy people of the pioneer type that are fast going into the 
land of never-come-back, and where the trails are blazed with the glories of 
the stars. 

His schooling was limited to the courses given in the Banner school of 
Calhoun County, where he had moved from his home in Pontotoc. For many 
moons he has tickled the earth for dollars and succeeded fairly well in the 
accumulation of sufficient property to live comfortably, happily and peace- 
fully. 

Quoting a few lines from his letter, he quaintly says that: "I live in the 
city of Houlka from choice. I chose Houlka merely Ijecause I chose to do 
so. Houlka people are as a rule like they are everywhere else — good, bad 
and indifferent. Houlka has one of the brightest futures of any town in the 
State. My motto is : 'Do unto others as I would have them to do unto me,' and 
my ambition is to be 'a better man than I have ever been.' " 

On September 1st, 1910, he was married to Mrs. Ballas Herndon Tutor, a 
lady of very industrious traits and Christian character. 

Uncle Doc keeps the muzzle tightly tied on the "bad men" of Houlka and 
can use his "forty-some-odd" with quick aim if occasion demands. 



WILLIAM JOSHUA GREEN 
Merchant. 

Uncle Josh, as he is familiarly known from BugsculTle to Froglevel, and 
from Kalamazoo to Pleasant View, is the man who lives in Houlka because 
he is unable to leave. What would Houlka do without him? How could the 
town keep on if Uncle Josh should pack up his bandanna and leave forever? 
Bad thought ; don't think of such a catastrophe ! 

Over in South Carolina, when the year 1855 rolled into view, there came 
with it this Uncle Josh, "being a small boy at that particular time." His 
parents, William J. and Caroline Kirby Green, were of Scotch-Irish stock, 
descending from the great families of Green and Kirby that were so numerous 
in the population of that new country. Then when he was twelve years old 
he came to Mississippi in '67. Having to work continually from day to day. 
winter and summer, he did not get to enjoy the school advantages of his 
richer neighbors. But he kept plugging, making a dollar here and "fo' bits" 
yonder, in farming and in trading various commodities about the country'. 
His fame as a horse-trader went over the country in a trot and before he was 
thirty years old, half of the horses and mules in the State of Mississippi had 
passed through the "swopping" and trading fingers of this Uncle Joshua. He 
went the "gaits" from running walk to single footing, and from racking to the 
buzzard lope. They put the "boot" to him, too, and finally he bought himself 
a farm. So, time grew on apace, and he decided to make the biggest trade of 



RAD HARR ILL REED 41 



his life with a human being for keeps and no rue back. Then on December 
25, '78, Miss Mary E. Kirby, a very estimable lady of great industry and 
lovable Christian character, agreed to make Uncle Josh a Christmas present 
of herself forever and forever. The trade was settled, and they have been 
working in harness for good ever since, or "happily ever after." Five children 
have blessed this couple in the persons of William Oscar, Claude Vernon, 
Julius R., Valley E. and Mary Alice. 

His motto is "Honesty," and his great ambition is "Power." He is a 
Baptist, a Mason, a W. O. W. and a "Good Fellow." Everybody likes Uncle 
Josh for his jolly wit and his way of taking life with sunshine. Perpetrating 
jokes is a pastime with him and he enjoys it from sun to sun. For a few years 
he ran a store in old Houlka and then joined the Houlka Mercantile Co. Until 
1913 he worked in that business and then sold out to begin another grocery 
trade under the firm name of Green & Combs, located in the store once occu- 
pied by T. J. Phillips, and later by V^estmoreland. He lives comfortably now 
in a large home east of school, and is a Irue type of the self-made man. 



WILLIAM HENRY GRIFFIN 

Capitalist. 

Mr. W. H. Griffin, the genial Southern gentleman of Houlka; the vice- 
president of the bank, and one of its directors; the man who owns the nicest 
and most comfortable home in town; the man who has striven, although 
handicapped by the scars of wartime conflict, and has succeeded through 
persistent and intelligent application of an energetic mind, was born on the 
21st of October, 1844, at Tuscaloosa, Ala. His parents. Gen. Jack T. Griffin, 
of Kentucky nativity and Irish descent, and Elizabeth McConnell Grifltin, of 
Georgia nativity and Scotch-Irish descent, moved into Mississippi when the 
subject of this sketch was only four years old. 

Until 1860, he was educated at Houston, but in '61 he became a student 
at Houlka under the able tutorage of B. F. Fitzpatrick, until March of the 
following year, when he was mustered into the army of the Confederate 
States of America on the 21st of March, 1862. Arriving at Fredericksburg, 
Va., he joined the 11th Mississippi Regiment of Infantry, Company H., under 
Gen. J. E. Johnston. Later the army was reorganized and fought the seven 
days' battle around Richmond under the command of the great and noble 
Robert E. Lee. Here, Mr. GriOin experienced some real hard military service 
right in the beginning. From there he went into the battle of Manassas, suf- 
fering privations of awful war; but coming out ready for the next battle of 
the famous Bull Run conflict. In this engagement he was twice severely 
wounded in the arm and hip, and was carried with a train load of other 
wounded Confeds. to the hospital at Lynchburg, Va. His "downy couch" 
was composed of straw in an old tobacco factory. Then on December 16, 
1862, he and A. L. McJunkin were granted furloughs and went to their Mis- 
sissippi homes, where they remained on crutches until the spring of '63, when 
they returned to their regiment at Orange C. H., Va. On October 5, '63, Mr, 
Griffin was given an honorable discharge from army service on account of 
said wounds. 

About the first day of April, '64, he was re-enlisted in army of C. S. A., in Com- 
pany E, Eighth Mississippi Cavalry Regiment, under Gen. Forrest. Almost im- 
mediately he was engaged in the battles of Brice Cross Roads and Harris- 
burg; was present at Selma when the arsenal was exploded, and then fell 
into retreat to Gainesville, Ala., where he was surrendered (a word that he 
wishes no good fortune) on the 9th and 10th of April, 1865. "Weak and 
wounded, sick and sore, ragged and hungry, his money of no value, began 
the march back home with his servant, Charlie, and three mules, finally 
reaching Houston about the middle of April." Everything that belonged to 
his father had been taken away or destroyed by the Yankees, and so Mr. 
Griffin had to get right down to hard work in the preparation ol^ the season's 
crops. 



42 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O I) A Y 

In ^vinler of '60 and spring of '(w, Mr. GrilVin was Deputy Probate Clerk 
of Cliieksaw County. Giving that up, he went to St. Louis and entered Bryant 
& Stratton Business College, where he was graduated in the summer of '07. 
Instead of going to work at once as a business man, he helped on his father's 
newly acquired farm, the old Isbell place, until he went to work for Frazee 
& Son, of Okolona, Miss., in '09. In 1870, he and J. S. Frazee, Jr., went to 
Louisville, Ky., and engaged in the wholesale and retail trade of sewing ma- 
chines. He sold his part of the business at the end of same year and secured 
control of Georgia and Florida for the sale of same machines, with head- 
quarters at Atlanta, conducting the trade under his own name until '72. In the 
sunnner of same year he moved to Memphis and established a business of 
concrete walk and tiling construe! ion in the firm name of Langesser & Grillin. 
After bidding for Court Square walks and fountain basin they were informed 
that city warrants were worth the great sum of 40 cents on the dollar, so 
they (luit the business and Mr. GrilTin returned to his home in Houlka. 

Quoting from his good letter, a part of his life since '73: "On the 10th 
of July, 1«S73, I purchased from Warren Harrill a stock of general merchan- 
dise, crealing a burdensome debt. Then on October, 1(S77, W. H. Griffin was 
happily married to Miss Missouri Baskin; his first homestead thereafter being 
a log cabin where he and his beautiful and good wife resided about one year 
l)efore we contracted for about four acres of land and a three-room plank 
home with William Harrill. Selling out at Houlka he bought the Jack 
iiuchanan place at Red Land and conducted a successful trade for five years. 
Then moving back to Houlka he purchased the Grange Store at auction, and 
also buying the I. E. Garrett home. After returning from Red Land, W. H. 
Griffin continued the mercantile business for twenty-eight years with good 
success all the while, investing his surplus money in real estate, of w^hich 
he accumulated quite a large acreage of fine farming lands and several quarter 
sections of timbered lands. From '92 to '94 inclusive, W. H. Griffin served 
the county as Supervisor and he, with P. W. Shell and J. E. Dendy, et al, made 
a business record of which he and they feel justly proud. 

"He is a Master Mason, having been so for 27 years, and has been advanced 
to the Hamasa Temj^le of A. O. O. Nobles of Mystic Shrine. He is Commander 
of Camp No. 1700, Confederate Veterans, of which distinction he is highly 
appreciative and i)roud of the honor. On January 1st, 1871, he joined tlie 
Floyd and Chestnut street Christian Church, of Louisville, Ky., and in May 
of same year joined the Odd Fellows at Atlanta, Ga." 

Since the new town was begun, Mr. Gritlin has done considerable work in 
the building and other general improvement of the town. Owns a handsome 
residence, a well-equipped three-story hotel, brick store and many other 
houses in and about town that he rents for a comfortable income. 

All of his life, he has been a true Christian gentleman, living the life of 
the cleanly man, the life of the inlluential man, withal the famous old-time 
life of hospitality and character of the Southern gentleman. 

PAUL WHITE GRIFFIN 

Druggist. 

If you ever get in sight of Houlka and you hear a rhythmic rollicking 
gurgle gushing from the portals of the first drug store the town ever bought 
its pills and potions, "yarbs" and oilier "pottle deep" concoctions, you can 
bet your bottom dime, (possibly you haven't seen a dollar in six months), 
that the foundation of that laugh is in the throat of one P. W. "Poll" Griffin. 

In the town of Lafavetle, Macon ('ouiitv, Teiin., Paul was born on Ajiril 
18, 1889. His father was Neil Washington'While, of Scotch extraction. His 
mother dying when Paul was very small, and also his father, so the name 
of his inolher cannot be recalled. When Paul was eight years of age, Mr. W. H. 
Griffin went to Nashville, and brought him to Houlka to live with them as their 
child for keeps. At once he made himself at home among the good people 
about Houlka, and gloried in all the sports of the school boys as a recognized 
leader among them. Horses were his chief delight, and never a day passed 



RAD HARRILL REED 43 



that he wasn't seen lickity-split up and down the roads going after cows or 
on some business errand for Mr. GritVin. Dozens of times he came in a mile 
of his life when his horse would slip and throw him "kersmash" against 
some bridge or tree. But who could kill him? "Bomonite" wouldn't hold 
him and guns couldn't puncture his epidermis. So he grew and waxed strong 
in muscle and text-books. Had a fight now and then and either his or the 
other fellow's mug was — well, it needed a prescription. 

Besides the Houlka school, he went to the Randolph-Macon College in 
Bedford City, Va., and then to French Camp Academy for a session or two. 
After that he went lo Jackson, Miss., and studied commercial business for 
one term. Back to Houlka, he helped his father in business matters until 
he bought the Houlka Drug Company, and now is manager of that pill palace 
of six cylindered, 90-horse-power, 23-jeweled, hydraulic compound pills, with 
a nickel's "wuff of sody fount" on tlie side. As a jerker of the gastronomic 
glories he is looking at you. Soft drinks for the hard cash come into elTer- 
vescent being when he swishes the rainbow liquids across the marble-top and 
says: "I've gottcher." "Poll is some slinghunnner," believe you! 

He is a member of the Methodist Church and also of the Masonic Lodge No. 
259. His ambition is "To be an upright and straightforward business man." 
He lives in Houlka because he is "here," and because of the healthful location 
along with good business opportunities and rapid growth. Paul is a happy, 
jolly man, and goes through life with good will to all and the grip of the 
gladsome mitten. 

W. LEE GUINN 
Contractor and Mechanic. 

Near Van Vleet, Miss., long before the peavine special crawled over the 
red hills and hollows of that section, and just three years after the surrender 
at Appomattox, there was born lo Jesse L. and Fanny Ulmer Guinn, a bitsum 
boy, on October 2, 1868. That boy was christened Lee, and as he played and 
studied about the schools of his iieighborhood. Locust Hill, Center Hill and 
Friendship, he grew from a sprightly boy into young manhood, shouldering 
the responsibilities of a young life as he "struck out" for himself in the won- 
derful world of knocks and pats. From early boyhood he had an ambition 
to be a carpenter and a good one. Everything in the way of nails and plank 
appealed to him as something that could be i)ut together for some good. So 
it was that his father's home was filled with various little "doings" of his 
saw and hammer. When he first got a complete tool chest, there wasn't a 
happier man in all the kingdoms of the earth. His fortune was made right 
then and there — all he had to do was to hammer it out. So he hammered and 
sawed, nailed down wisdom from big experience, wrought many jobs as 
smoothly as the expert, chiseled his way into the possession of a wife, and 
made a four-square deal with his Maker for salvation. 

On December 19, 1894, he married Miss Emma Williams, a lady of excellent 
traits and Christian character. They have lived on the "level" to all the 
world and will keep up that good measure "plumb" to the end. He is a 
Methodist and a loyal one. His ambition is "To live for God and the uplift of 
my country and fellowmen." His motto is, "Do right." "I live here because I 
helped build the town and because my home is here. I love the home and 
the people, and think that Houlka is growing fast into greater things and 
greater men." Mr. Guinn does much contracting and building for the Houlka 
people. He is withal a manly gentleman. 

JESSE F. HANEY 
Alderman, Farmer, Ex-Merchant. 

Five miles south of Pontotoc, J. F. Haney was born. History doesn't give 
the exact date, but many people know he is here and are glad of it — he is, too. 
His parents, Silas and Nannie Chase Haney, were of Irish nationality, and 
came to this country from Tennessee about the year 1850. 



44 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

The schools of Pontotoc county were the limits of his book education; ob- 
serving and thinking much at home, he has come to be a man of well-informed 
mind and excellent business judgment. 

Before moving from Algoma to old Houlka, Mr. Haney was the Supervisor 
for that district several years, making quite a reputation for work well done. 

At old Houlka he was the proprietor of the large boarding house and ran 
a grocery and general line near the cross roads corner. When the new town 
was in the making he put up a store on the West Row and did a rushing trade 
for two or three years. The big hotel put up by Mr. GrilTin was run by Mr. 
Haney with success and to the gastronomic delight of the drummers and other 
traveling men; was (juite a popular hotel on the Molly Jackson line, serving 
the very best meals that Houlka could afford. Now he is a farmer and an 
Alderman, living comfortably in a nice little home west of the town square, 

February 3, 1881, he was married to Miss Lula Lee Weatherall, a most in- 
dustrious lady of fine womanhood, and just the wife to make Mr. Haney 
a happy home. Three children — Jesse Ernest, Eugene Marshall and Annie 
Lee Marie bless this union. 

Mr. Haney is a Presbyterian, Mason, member Order of Eastern Star and 
W. O. W. He believes strongly in the Golden Rule, and is ambitious to "Do 
the right thing and to lead others in the same path." Quoting a sentence : 

"Houlka is the best place I ever lived, and the best people to associate 
with." 

Mr. Haney is the Superintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday school, and a 
member of the School Trustees. Genial and kind — a good word for all, is 
Mr. Haney. 

EUGENE MARSHALL HANEY 
Farmer. 

Marshall Haney is the second son of J. F. Haney, just preceding. From 
a little bit of a fellow he has jumped into six feet of manhood in almost an 
incredible short length of time. Everybody knows Marshall and his team 
of mules. Without them he would be lost forever and have no more confi- 
dence with anything about him. A young man of very industrious traits — 
can be seen any day driving his little mules with the ease of a grizzled team- 
ster and with a happiness supreme. Besides his farm work, he hauls for the 
public, making quite a few shekels for a rainy day. Not married, but hopes 
to be wiien the times comes. Modest, pleasant and jolly is friendly Marshall 
Haney. 

LUKE H. HARRIS 
Alderman, Hunter, Farmer. 

The year 1855 was the beginning of L. H. Harris, near the village of 
Houlka. A mighty Nimrod was come and all the fish, squirrels, rabbits, foxes 
and coons in the jungles nearby heard the news with dire forebodings. All 
that could die right then, did so. The others lived until caught by the inces- 
sant intrusions of this hunter into their dens and holes. F^rom that day his 
ambition has been to be a greater hunter, and many have been the days and 
nights spent by him in the chase of elusive game. He enjoyed it then and 
enjoys it now — would hunt more but hates to be so cruel to the little animals 
that are fast disappearing with the movements of civilization. He admits that 
after a trip he hunts more beds and medicine than he should; but glories in 
the fact that it was certainly a great hunt, "and that fox sho' did lickity split." 

His father and mother, Francis Marion and Susan Isbell Harris, came from 
North Carolina and Alabama in 1845 and 1837, respectively. He attended only 
the small schools at Houlka, working most of the time about the farm. 

In 1881 he was married to Miss Rossie DeLashmel, an excellent lady of fine 
character and industrious womanhood. Five children have blessed this de- 
voted union — Isbell, Carrie Lee, Stella, Susie and Francis. 



RADHARRILLREED 45 



Mr. Harris is a Baptist, Mason and member Board of Aldermen. He 
chooses for his motto: "Do right," and says this at last of his letter: 

"I think Houlka deserves credit for the progress it has made in the last 
few years, and it is mostly populated with good honorable people. I live 
in it because of my desire to see prosperity of town and my love for it." 

OSCAR MERIWETHER HARRILL 
Banker and Progressive Farmer. 

The flush of life thrilled the hills and valleys of Houlka. Spring had 
ripened into the red glow of summer. Delicate shoots of cotton and corn 
peeped upward from the furrowed fields of the Harrill plantation. Long 
ribbons of light kissed the tips of the trees as they threw the glories of twi- 
light over the wonderful welkin of the world. Night fell and broke into a 
moonlit breeze that rustled through the foliage of the forests like the silken 
swish and swirl of a spinning wheel. Then it was, in such a time, that an 
important event was heralded to the Houlka habitants. Grapevine telephones 
and tongues without end passed the news from house to house. The day was 
three times in June, the month of "roses," and the little chappie was "Os." 
Forty times, with the coming June, has he notched a year on the walls of mem- 
ory, and may the notching reach into its double is the wish of friends un- 
limited. 

His parents, William A. and Sallie Hodges Harrill, moved into Mississippi 
a few years before the war, building a home and clearing land among the 
very first of the old Houlka settlers. 

The Houlka school gave him the rudiments of "A, B, C," and in the sum- 
mer his father tried to teach him "crops," and just how to hold a plough 
handle. The sun nor the plow didn't appeal to his "contentment," and he 
kindly informed the whole push to go South with about as mild a Sunday 
school word as he could "remember." This way: "Hike to Melkizzerdeck, or 
hump to Arkansas to that place of minus the 'ena' and double the '1'." Any- 
how, he didn't make a farmer out of himself right at that time, even if he 
now thinks more of its scientific application to existing conditions. 

To Clinton College was his next step and he found that the world was a 
bit larger than he had thought, but kept up his work along with a few lifts 
of some old graduate hens that seemed to believe in the sacrifice of their 
hides for the tummies of the hungry students. One session was over and 
he found that he had not learned all "they is." Then to Washington in 1900 
to work in Census Department for three years. Back home he went to work 
with vim and enthusiasm in building up country and materially helping in 
the beginning of a town west of old Houlka. Money and work, work and 
money, had to mix, and from the juggling of both the town is now what it is. 

In 1903 he decided to marry, and the estimable and Christian character 
who became his happy wife was Miss Hattie Hunt Carter, of Helena, Ark. 

The consensus of opinion regarding him is that he is Houlka and Houlka 
is "he." A booster, hustler, progressive, constructive, a developer, generous, 
original, honorable, honest, friendly, jolly, patient, dauntless, reinforced con- 
crete backbone, unobtrusive, sincere in advice, sound business acumen, cour- 
ageous. Everybody loves him for the help he has given them in times of 
trouble, as he loves everybody with the biggest heart in the world. 

He is a Mason, a Shriner thirty-two degrees long, and a W. O. W. He is 
a member of all the churches, because one "costs" him just as much as the 
other. "Ock," as some of his friends call him, is a thinker and a doer — never 
waiting for the other fellow . 

WILLIAM McDonald holladay 

Merchant and Baker. 

Mac Holladay was born on February 13, 1894, two miles north of old 
Houlka on a rich little farm in the grapevine valleys of Pontotoc county. His 



46 HOULKA YP:STERDAY TODAY 

father, the well-known W. M. Holladay, who died in 1905, after a long life of 
usefulness and good will to man, and his mother, Lula Fant Holladay, who 
now lives with her happy family in the new town, were descended from pure 
old English-Scotch-Irish stock that came originally from Tennessee and Vir- 
ginia as one of the first families to settle on the Pontotoc Ridge. 

After a few years of schooling and hard work on the farm, he moved to 
new Houlka to begin a business of mechandising and a bakery. He is now 
located in the old store formerly occupied by J. F. Brown & Son, south of 
the bank, but expects to move into his new store that is now being used by 
Lonnie Baskin. He bought out the stock of T. V. Turner, who had been run- 
ning a small bakery and grocery for several years in the new town. Since, he 
has added a bit more stock to his shelves and "rolls in the dough" with clean 
hands and smiling face. Mac was always a quiet boy, never obtruding his 
opinions without he knew his ground, and from that and also by his moral 
life he has come into a highly respected and well thought of young man. To 
rise in life — to make bread for the family, to live among the "upper-crust," 
and to finally persuade some "flour" with a "Gold Medal" "Character" to be 
his "Dainty" wife, he will be as high in the roll of the "Elect" as he can ever 
wish to be. "Table-Talk" with him and you find that he is a very original, 
"A-1," well-done young man. So we feel sure that his "self-rising" life will 
develop into a great citizen of the town. 



JAMES WESLEY HOWARD 
Ex-Marshal and Druggist. 

Two miles southwest of new Houlka, "Jim Howard" was born on August 
29, 1869. His parents, who came from Alabama in '66, were John W. and 
Atalecie Bolding Howard, both from among the first families pioneering their 
way westward from the southeastern Atlantic coast. 

When he was not employed on the farm, he attended a few terms of the 
Houlka public school, and studied when he "had to" the lessons assigned by 
the czar of authority — still he kept up with the first of the classes and devel- 
oped into a well-rounded and well equipped man in both books and experi- 
ence. Since that time he has been studying the great text book of humanity, 
compounding this and that problem with all the ingredients of a practical 
man. 

On December 24, 1890, Miss Emma Berry, the jolliest, "smilingest" and 
"splendidest" Christian character, followed "Jim" to the altar of matrimony 
and told the minister "she'd tend to him through thick and thicker." She 
has led him a happy life through trials and joys, and as she quaintly puts it, 
"I'm just old Emma Howard, loving my family and I don't care who knows 
it." Isn't that the "truf?" Six children have been born to this union — Dee, 
Oda, Estelle, Attie May, Helen and James. 

In 1905 Mr. Howard began work as a salesman for the Houlka Hardware 
Co., and after a few years of that work became the manager of the Houlka 
Drug Co. When this business was sold he was elected City Marshal, and 
served faithfully in that capacity until he was employed as salesman for 
S. S. Stewart Hardware Co. He is now running a drug store of his own in 
the Mize Building on West Row. With mortar and pestle he is putting out 
mixtures that will cure anything from a wart to a whimper, or from a whistle 
to a whooping whirlwind. Acids, powders, liquids, oils, juices, syrups and 
salves are his daily companions, and when he gets to compounding all this 
conglomeration of concoctions into some prescription it is enough, paregori- 
cally speaking, to "Kuore" all the ills in the biggest "tum tum" the world has 
ever known. His work is efficient, up to standard in every way. One of the 
most polite and gentlemanly salesman in Houlka is jolly, jovial Jim. 

He is a Methodist, a Mason, K. P. and a W. O. W. Lives loyally to their 
precepts and with the great motto of "Deal scjuarely and honestly with the 
public." His longing ambition is to "Prosper." From his letter comes the 
fact: 



RADHARRILLREED 47 



"I live in Houlka because I like the town and people. I came here when 
it was nothing but woods, and have seen its steady growth to twenty-six busi- 
ness houses and all the other necessities of a growing city. We have a host 
of as good people as ever lived in any town." 



WILLIAM DEE LAFAYETTE HOWARD 
Pharmacist. 

Dee Howard, son of the man just preceding. Dee the soda-coaxer, the pill- 
roller, the pharmaceutical phenomenon, the compounder of narcotics and the 
safe and salutary prescriptive juggler, was born near the new town in 1892. 
He "stimulates" in his letter that, after looking over and testing his ancestral 
nationality, it precipitates into a "Duke's Mixture." 

In the public schools of his home. Dee secured a fundamental training 
that has been of great use to him in studying out all the medicinal medica- 
tions of drugs and the other lock-jaw and neuralgic words that make miser- 
able the modern mixtures of carbonate, astringents, alteratives, sedatives and 
emollients of Rexall composition and classification. 

He began work in the Houlka Drug Store in 1907, and after a few years 
went to Ackerman to work in same trade. Coming home in '13, he went to 
work with his father at the beginning of the new year '14. Dee knows the 
business and can prepare the most delicate of prescriptions with quickness 
and accuracy. His manner is polite and his kind word to everybody natu- 
rally makes him a popular boy among the Houlka business element, and with 
all the people who come in from a distance to get some emetic or cataplasmic 
"releaser" for various irritants of the other fellow's body. 

Dee is a Methodist and a W. O. W. Has for his motto: "Deal honestly 
with God and man and climb to the top." "To be of good to others and to 
himself," is his great ambition, and in his daily life that seems to be his 
constant thought and action. Quoting: 

"I live in Houlka just to be with the homefolks. The town is enterprising, 
the people are good, honest, hospitable Christians, thoroughgoing and always 
ready to lend a willing and helping hand to the needy." 

JEFFERSON ROSS KIMBROUGH 
Merchant. 

A few years in the recent hence, an hundred moons more or less, and just 
six miles to the east of us, Ross Kimbrough was born. His parents, John 
Rogers and Annie Foster Kimbrough, were descendants of Scotch-Irish set- 
tlers in the new country long before the war, though both his father and 
mother were native Mississippians. 

The flourishing school at Troy, helped Ross into a good high school edu- 
cation — attending it when he could be spared from the duties at home. Soon 
as he was large enough to handle a hoe he struck out, chopping down good 
stalks and leaving sorry ones — still he plugged on, hoeing his row of life with 
the zeal of a man who wants to make good, even if grassy plots obstruct his 
path from time to time. Later he became more skilled in the knowledge of 
good and bad stalks, and since then has hoed his allotted row like the cleanly 
gentleman that he is. Hay and stubble began to grow rather boisterously 
on his chin and cheeks. It has turned out to be the most prolific crop he ever 
raised, having to mow and rake it three times a week, and just before he 
married he razed them once a day. 

That happy event came about on December 23, 1906, and the most estimable 
lady in the case was Miss Virgie Brown. Four children, two girls, two boys, 
LaMarr and LaVell, Floyd and Arthur, bless this couple of devoted and beau- 
tiful home relationship. 

On December 15, 1912, Ross moved to the new town and engaged in gen- 
eral merchandise business in the former T. V. Turner restaurant. Since then 



48 H O U L K A Y E S T E II D A Y TOD A \ 



he has done an average trade with the Houlka people, and made for himself 
a name of honesty and trustworthy business dealings. His ambition is "To 
serve my Maker, my fellowman and sell goods." He is a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church and W. O. W. 

"I think Houlka is one of the best little towns in the country, and has a 
bright future in all lines of business. I am living here to get the advantage 
of the schools and churches and other conveniences. My opinion of the peo- 
ple is of the very highest, and not a more social and helpful class can be 
found." 

JAMES MADISON KIRBY 
Progressive Farmer and Carpenter. 

Born in South Carolina in 1845, when the necessities of life were ineager 
and hard to get, the subject of this sketch grew into manhood by sheer force 
of "get up and get busy," making old nature knuckle to his will and bring 
forth fruits for the maintenance of the large family. His parents, B. R. M. 
and Mary Hunt Kirby, were descended from the great and numerous families 
of the Kirbys and Hunts — the Kirby family being at one time the fourth 
largest in number in the U. S. A. The Smith, Brown and Jones families com- 
ing first. 

In the year '67, and on the 18th day of November, he and Miss Mary J. 
Green were bound together for life, to share the pleasures and the trials that 
always come into the lives of those who "strike out" for themselves to accumu- 
late a comfortable home and property sufficient for its continued welfare. 
His wife is a most industrious lady of great Christian character and the 
proud mother of seven children who are married and have children of their 
own. They are as follows: Mrs. Etta K. Bray, Mrs. Eddie K. Berry, Mrs, 
Dubose K. Stockstill, Mrs. Austry K. Williams, Clifton, Roland and Mrs. 
Jimmie May K. Stubblefield. 

Two years after his marriage he moved to Mississippi and began at once 
to farm. During his spare moments, he worked as a carpenter, helping build 
all the old home places over the country, and especially the old-time boarding 
house and two-story school building. The inner work of the Masonic Hall 
was of his handiwork, and remained in fine condition for many years. 

Before coming to Mississippi he served as a regular soldier in the Army of 
the Confederates until the Appomattox; fought faithfully and steadily in 
every engagement, sending more than one opponent scooting one way or the 
other. 

"I think Houlka is a right fast place — good enough for me and mine. I 
like my farm, and believe in saying and doing the right thing at the right 
time." 

Mr. Kirby has given up most of his former activities, and now lives just 
for his children. Occasionally he comes around with some of the best beef 
and kid this side o' Kansas City. His wife is known for many miles around 
on account of her famous dishes of kid and other edibles when a big dinner 
is spread out at some "big speaking" or meeting. Mr. Kirby is a public- 
spirited man, and lives up to the motto of "Help those who try to help them- 
selves." 

JEFFERSON C. KIRBY 
Real Estate Dealer and Progressive Farmer. 

Fifty-four years ago, on October 9, there was born in the home of Mr. and 
Mrs. B. R. M. Kirby, near the town of Spartenburg, S. C, a boy. Being born 
in those days, and even now, is quite a natural occurrence with all of us, but 
here was a boy that kicked harder, crew louder, grew faster and stronger, and 
startled the old settlers with his muscular power to wade right into anything, 
anywhere, and make business hum from no other reason but that it had to 
hum when he put his grabs to the wheel. 

In '66 he moved to Houlka and later on builded the first home that is now 
in the corporate limits of the new town. For thirty long, lonesome years he 



RADHARRILLREED 49 



lived the life of a bachelor, never knowing the getting up before day to make 
a fire for his wife to cook breakfast — never knowing the pleasures of buy- 
ing fifty-dollar hats and furs for his wife's head and neck, and never knowing 
the joy of having some nice lady to tie his tie and brush his clothes. But 
finally he decided to quit his foolishness, and when Miss Medie Viola Wool- 
dridge of Thorn, Miss,, agreed to go with him through thick and thin, they 
brought the matter to a happy settlement on February 9, 1890. His wife is a 
lady of excellent w^omanhood, and keeps household affairs just exactly as 
"Uncle Jeff" w^ants them kept. Their children are : Medera Ada, who is running 
a store at Thorn; Annie Huzie, who is teaching music at Mantee; John Henry, 
who is foreman of an ice cream factory in El Paso, Texas; Mary Adaline, 
Robert Andrew, Lallie Lee (deceased), and Birdish Monroe. 

Uncle Jeff's ambition is, "To be a law-abiding citizen and to help build up 
my town and country." "Houlka is progressing very fast and bids fair to 
become one of the best towns on the railroad." In all of the town's enterprises, 
Uncle Jeff is there with a helping hand, striving always to keep his home town 
way up in the status of modern progression. As a real estate dealer he is 
a shrewd man — fair in all trades, thrifty in business, not afraid to get his 
hands or hide soiled by clean old earth, and believes in being ready to grab a 
"holt" five hundred days in the year. He is now contemplating a large stock 
farm, and hopes in the future to ship quantities of meat to markets North. 

He is a Baptist, a man of steady character, a man of friendly feeling and 
withal a man who will help you at any time to get out of the rut. 



ROWLAND C. KIRBY 

Tonsorial Artist. 

"A tiny little shaver" was born on January 13, 1885. That boy was Row- 
land Kirby, and came into manhood on the farm of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Kirby, 
just a short distance southwest of the new town. The old joke that has had 
whiskers on it for many years about parents using the "strop" as a safety- 
razor" of children, wasn't perpetrated on the shins of Rowland, for he believed 
in obeying whenever duty called, and even sat still when his mother "shingled" 
his hair. 

Going first to Houlka High School for a few terms, he entered the Agricul- 
tural and Mechanical College and studied there until he had gained a thorough 
knowledge of first year college work and just enough to make him wish for a 
better chance to study on through the higher courses. His burning ambition 
has always been to study medicine, and to relieve the sick and suffering. 
Financial troubles keep him from going into this work heart and soul. In 
the meantime, he has farmed and barbered his way into a comfortable liv- 
ing at the present, and hopes to keep it up for his happy family, in living the 
great motto, "Do right." 

On June 28, 1911, he was married to Miss Mary Ceola McEachern, "the best 
lady in the world," and to this union have been born two children — James Mc. 
and Wilson Bates Kirby, the former dying on June 7, 1913. 

Rowland is a Baptist, and has taken the first degree in Masonry. For 
several years he has been working in the barber shops of Houlka, New Al- 
bany and Houston, running the shop at Houston until he moved it to Houlka, 
and after using it for few weeks rented it to another man and went to work 
on the farm. There are very few beards in this vicinity that he hasn't 
lathered and shaved, and clipped the heads of the rest of them. He is always 
neat in his work and puts the finishing touches on faces and heads that not 
every barber in the world can do just as good. Quoting from his letter: 

"I live here because I think I have lots of friends, and because my rela- 
tives are here. Also I have some financial advantages here that I have not else- 
where. Houlka is a nice, prosperous little town. If we had more good roads 
and better markets for produce it would help wonderfully to build the tow^n." 



50 H O I' L K A Y E S T E R D A Y TOD A Y 

J. BONNER MITCHELL 
Physician, Surgeon and Bank Director. 

Summer had waned into Autumn. The cotton had been hustled to market 
and the big cribs of the Cofleeville plantations were bursting with the "staff 
of lifcv" The great yellow fever scare was about over and the people were 
making plans for the long winter's rest. Pop corn and peanuts were stored 
up for the children, and the "Aunties and Grandmothers" were preparing 
woolen thread for the family gloves and stockings. So then it was, in that 
little town, Bonner jNIitchell made his first call into the world on November 
2, 1878. A few days later, his parents, James H. and Laura Isbell Dow Mitchell, 
who were direct descendants of the sturdy Irish people, and who came to 
Mississippi from South Carolina in 1830, decided that Bonner should be a 
doctor — his system was so ardently in favor of giving the other baby all the 
paregoric and Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup that it could hold, while he 
was content with just a common old "compounder" when his machinery 
needed a real pleasant "dosing." 

From the public schools of his home town he grew into manhood, keeping 
right up with the best of them in grades, and learning much of that "inside 
information" so helpful to a man of his ability in reasoning the problems 
of a workaday world. Little shoots of spinach began to peep from his 
youthful cheeks, a moustachlet loomed over the horizon of his upper lip and 
bristled defiantly to the other alfalfa in close proximity to show some imme- 
diate growth or quit the field. Finally he whacked 'em off by a neat operation 
and shined up for college. With a spick and span suit of clothes, "to' bits" 
in his pocket and a strong determination of "you can't keep a good man 
down," he boarded the cars for the Memphis Hospital and Medical College. 
He boned and crammed, waxed strong in the science of bones and cranials, 
diseases and remedies, whys, wherefores and whences, and all the intricacies 
of the human body. Inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation be- 
came his daily thought, and he "thunk" great big chunks of thoughts that terri- 
fied the teachers to take the tonic treatment for throbbing and tempestuous 
temples. So he graduated with honors, and filling his saddlebags with potions 
and pills, he came home to cure the most obstinate cases of rundown systems 
that could be found in the counties of Calhoun and Chickasaw. He slung 
words at those people that made them "set up and take medicine." "Now, 
Mrs. Snifflewiper, your eleemosynary is just a bit too far on the right of your 
chordata, causing a prolific source of angina pectoris in the cosmopolitan con- 
stabulary. Microscopy shows that a Osteochondrosnoma is somewhere be- 
tween the abdominal Pathonomy or in the peritoneum of the Mammoth Cave. 
If the Sphenosalpingostaphylinus wasn't so long as it is, you might die most 
any minute in trying to utter that monosyllabic aliliction in the presence of 
your psychotherapic personality." The old lady took it all in and only ex- 
claimed that she thought it was just a small headache which needed a swiggle 
of "Jack Ratlin" for complete rejuvenation, 

October 28, 1900, he was married to Miss Ella Vanlandingham, a most esti- 
mable lady of refined and Christian womanhood, and just the wife for Doctor 
Mitchell to help him carry on the great profession of doing good among the 
sick and poor. Three children have been born to this devoted union, Theo C, 
Christine and Lily. 

Doctor Mitchell is a member of the Christian Church and one or two orders 
of prominence in the town. He enjoys a good practice in the town and 
vicinity, going night and day to relieve the unfortunate indispositions of the 
people from teething to the decay of old age. He is well equipped for the 
work, and lives comfortably in a neat little cottage just west of the school 
building. 

His ambition is, "To make Houlka THE TOWN and my children the best 
reared in it." His motto is, "Push business — don't let it push you." That is 
Doctor Mitchell to a "T," and he is certainly realizing his dreams of the 
long ago, 

"I live in Houlka because of its people and healthful location. Has a 
most beautiful and natural site for a town, and is one of the best in North 



R A D H A R R I L L R E E D 51 



Mississippi. Composed of the best quality of people — those who live not for 
themselves alone, but are social and moral and kind, always ready to help 
fellowman." 

He is jolly, friendly, gentlemanly and knows politics from A-to-Izzard. 

J. CAL MURPHREE 
Salesman. 

During the gloomy days of Reconstruction, "Pat" Murphree was come into 
the land of the living, January 22, 1867. His father and mother, James Pleas- 
ant and Sarah Henderson Murphree, blazed their way into Calhoun county 
from Alabama sometime before the war with Mexico. 

In the public schools of Pittsboro, Mr. Murphree sought an education; 
but on account of limited means, could not go very far into the few texts of 
that day. Besides this, he leaned into the world of experience and hard knocks 
— making for himself a man of sound common sense and business judgment. 
Farming was his chief occupation for a few years until he began to clerk 
for the firm of T. J. Phillips & Son, in the cross road village of Reid, Miss. 
Later he moved with the firm to Houlka, and for several years was a hustling 
clerk in the Phillips dry goods and grocery departments. Built a nice cottage 
for his family — having married Miss Ada Green, a lady of fine character and 
industry, on December 21, 1890. One daughter, Uras, is now the wife of 
Wilbert L. Walker, pharmacist. Mr. Murphree now lives in the two-story 
building once occupied by a Mr. Turner, on the east side of the railroad, facing 
west. Since he severed his connection with the firm of T. J. Phillips & Son, 
he has been clerking for Easley & Johnson, in the store on Jenkin's block next 
the postofTice. 

Uncle Pat is a jolly, genial man. Happy, smiling, witty. Has the roundest 
tum-tum of anybody in town — the strongest vocal chords in a gurgling, tick- 
ling way, and can carry a barrel of flour on one shoulder and can of "simon 
cup" on the other. Friendly, accommodative. Believes in Houlka and its 
people. Many times has his hearty laugh rippled through the air of the town, 
telling all the grumps and grouches that one happy man was in the city. 

Mr. Murphree is now working as salesman for J. A. Williams. 

A. A. NEWELL 

Educator. 

S. L. Newell, with about a dozen brothers and sisters, moved into Missis- 
sippi about '37 from North Carolina, his ancestors having come from England 
to Pennsylvania, and thence to North Carolina. His wife, Mary Jane Mooney 
Newell, came into Mississippi from South Carolina about '40, her people hav- 
ing lived in that section for about ninety years after they came from Scotland 
and Ireland. Then in 1860, Ash Newell, as he is familiarly known, was born 
in Pontotoc county, and grew old enough before the close of the war to see 
the soldiers and hear the booming cannon as they hurtled shrapnel into the 
thinning ranks of the Southern army. 

First, he went to the rural schools and then to the Pontotoc Male Academy, 
famous in those days of meager school opportunities. Then to the University 
of Mississippi, and from there to the National Normal University of Ohio. 
Most of his life he has lived in the school room teaching the proverbial "young 
ideas how to shoot." From a successful school work in Calhoun he came to 
Houlka, and for three years has carried on the large school with excellent 
management and work well done. He is public-spirited and always ready to 
give of his means to further the cause of education here and elsewhere. He 
has a good corps of teachers, who help him carry out the great plan of educa- 
tion he is placing in the school. 

Miss Georgia Avent, a lady of fine character and Christian womanhood, 
became his bride in '89. Anice, Pauline, Andrew, Grace, Hetty, Ben, George 
and Frances are the children of this devoted couple. 



52 H O IJ L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 

Prof. Newell is a Presbyterian and a Mason, and also a member of the old 
Grange. His ambition in life is, "To do at least some good in the world," and 
his motto along with that is, "To make good." 



DAVID FESTUS NORMAN 
Mail Carrier for Uncle Sam. 

When the grating mills of Heaven were shredding cocoanut down upon 
the earth into a snowy white blanket on November 8, 1893, there was come 
from this great fall of flakes little Festus Norman into the happy home of 
James Osgood and Sallie Elizabeth Aston Norman, just a short distance south- 
west of old Houlka. 

His schooling was first obtained in rural schools about his home and then 
when he moved with his mother to Texas, he attended the Chico Male and 
Female Institute. Coming back, he stopped in Memphis and studied commer- 
cial business in Draughon's College. For most of his life he has engaged 
in farming and doing various odd jobs to help support his widowed mother 
and brothers and sisters. He is now, (March 14, 1914), carrying the mail on 
Route 1, as a substitute for StafT Bishop. Another route is contemplated for 
the people between Houlka and Gershorm, and on this Festus will be given 
full charge, having passed the civil examination very creditably. He is efl"i- 
cient in his work and strives ever to make good for his employer and for 
himself. He is a Methodist and a Woodman of the W^orld. Friendly and 
pleasant, kind and willing. 

Roy Norman, his brother, is working for the Neely exchange, and like his 
brother, is helping make a living for the family. He is learning all the intri- 
cacies of the 'phone business, and everybody compliments his good manners 
at the switch. 

PERCY NUNNALLY 
"Banker." 

Percy Nunnally, future Wall Street shark and manipulator of the purse- 
strings of the nation, future millionaire in his dreams, and coupon clipper of 
government bonds, both watered and soaked, and the future cashier of some 
sure-enough bank roundabout the country, was born on June 27, 1894, at 
Booneville, Miss. His father and mother, John H. and Mary Rodlen Nunnally, 
trace their ancestry from England to Virginia, and thence to Mississippi, in 
1885. 

The schools of Booneville, Houlka and Millsaps College are the limits of 
his fundamental education. From this he has clerked in the Houlka Mercan- 
tile, and is now learning all the assets of the Houlka Bank, preparing him- 
self for future work of that knd. His interest in the business can't be checked, 
and his employers speak of him as a boy ready, willing and hustling for 
credit. When he is told to do a thing, he does it and without a grumble. He's 
"Percy on the job," adding to his brain here and there, taking notes of the 
least transaction and transferring every item to his stock of knowledge by 
accurate calculation into his pericranial deposit box. Percy is a pleasant, 
happy gentleman. 

JOHN M. PEDEN 
Blacksmith and Woodworkman. 

The Master had touched the East and it was morning. The time was 
November 27, 1877, and that date is carved on the great wheel of history as 
the birthday of John Peden, the popular John, who nails, chisels, fdes, saws, 
hammers, drills and cuts his way into a plumb good, plane, level living. His 
father, Andrew Alexander Peden, and his mother, who was a McJunkin, trace 
their ancestry from Scotland and Ireland, and moved from South Carolina to 
Mississippi about 1846. 



R A D H A R R I L L R E E D 53 



In the schools of his home at Red Land, he secured the first steps of a 
text book education duing tlie spare moments from his work on the farm, and 
from his one great desire to work in the shop on the family homestead. Iron 
of every size and shape twisted and writhed under the heavy blows of his 
hammer. Shod the inules and horses of the farm with ease to the animal 
and sometimes a "dime" for the job. Anything that was without form was 
whipped into something useful when he put the hot mass on the anvil from 
time to time to make it bend to his will. Little things done then told a future 
of larger ones. 

In 1907, after he had won the heart of the "best lady in the land," Miss 
Vara Henderson, they were married and moved to Houlka into a neat little 
cottage just a bit east of the school. Three children have blessed this union — 
James, Erlene and Mack. 

Mr. Peden is a member of the Presbyterian church. Has for his motto, 
"Do all the good I can in as many ways I can to all the people I can." His 
ambition has always been to "Make an honorable support for my family, edu- 
cate my children, accumulate some means of support in old age, and live a 
life becoming to a believer in Christ. I live here because it is a good place 
to live. The people are kind and agreeable, and even our worst citizens will 
help anyone in distress or want. Have the most congenial merchants in 
Mississippi, and everybody and everything seems to get along without strife 
or feuds and unpleasant conditions." 

Mr. Peden is located just across the street from the Farmer's Union Cotton 
Warehouse. His shop is equipped with all the modern fixtures of the up-to- 
date type and he's busy, busy all the daylight hours. Wagons and buggies 
just naturally break down to get John to fix'em. When he fixes it — she's fixed. 



BYRD LEE PHILLIPS 
Furniture and Grocery Merchant. 

March 5, 1877, is a date that "Byrd" doesn't remember just exactly, still he 
celebrates that date as the beginning of his existence in Calhoun county. His 
parents. Young Phillips and Sarah McDonald Phillips, trace their origin from 
the Scotch-Irish, their ancestors moving from South Carolina in 1830. 

The Calhoun County public schools were the limits of his education. Hav- 
ing to work and work incessantly, he didn't find time to spend in the school 
room. 

Later he cut loose for himself, and in 1895 married the very lady to make 
his home a happy place to live, and the lady who knew how to look after 
housekeeping just to "Byrd's" delight, Miss Ellen Florence Morgan. Four 
children have been born into this family. 

He lives here because he couldn't leave if he wanted to do such a thing. 
Occupies one of the Jenkin's stores on South Row, and does quite a good trade 
in furniture and groceries. His home is on one of the rich plots west of town, 
and as a farmer and a merchant, he is making Houlka a good citizen, and a 
man who is ready to help any good cause for advancement of business in the 
town. 

THOMAS RUCKER ROBERTS 
Cotton Buyer and Ex-Marshal. 

The war was over and the people were seeking soine refuge from utter 
starvation. Farms were devastated, and the whole country was scorching in 
the very flames of rack and ruin. Clouds of disgrace and defeat hung over 
the country in a thickening pall, and they seemed to be ready to burst with 
the red blood of the dead and dying soldiers. But a new nation was being 
born, and one of that number who were to take charge of the welfare of the 
grand old South was Tom Roberts, one of the many who were born in the 
year '66 to grow up into the solid manhood of our State and Nation. October 
29 was the date, and his parents, William Van Roberts, and his mother, who 



54 HOULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

was a Palmer, moved from Memphis, where little Thomas had been born, into 
Mississippi in the year 1883. 

Uncle Tom attended the Peabody school at Afemphis for several sessions 
before moving to Mississippi. Farming in Union county for a while, he moved 
to the Delta, and then after a few years, moved to Hoiilka, to be the first per- 
manent resident in the new town — his home, occupied now by J. G. Johnson, 
being the first completed in the new and booming town of Houlka. 

In '89 he was married to a Miss Corder, of Pontotoc county, a lady of 
most excellent womanhood and industry — just the housekeeper for Uncle 
Tom. Five children have been born to this family — Lacy, Howard and Joe, 
Addie and Fannie. 

He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and of the W. O. W. 
His great and sincere ambition is to make Houlka one of the best towns in 
North Mississppi. Rather unique, but here she is : "My motto is, 'do the other 
fellow before he does me,' And then I live here because it is a coming town 
and for its great resources." 

For many terms. Uncle Tom served the city as Marshal, and he served it 
well. Not afraid of a cyclone with "dinamight" in it and it "busting" all around 
him. The man is yet to show up and blulT Uncle Tommy. If he isn't there 
with the "quick" — well, he's there. As to bullies, bandits, desperadoes, any- 
thing like a rough house man — whew% he "eats 'em!" He's some distinguished 
looking, is Uncle Tom, even if his two hundred pounds does run to his middle. 
We will venture to venture that he would make the best policeman or Pinker- 
ton detective in the State of Mississippi. 

He is now a cotton buyer and does strictly good business. Margins, quo- 
tations, points, bulls, bears, futures, spots and plates — he "eats 'em." For 
several months he has helped his son run the fount in the restaurant. He is 
withal a great citizen of the town, and helps the other fellow when he needs 
a pat or push to keep going. 



HOWARD (SHORTY) H. ROBERTS. 
Merchant and Premier Ball Pitcher. 

"Hey, cook, squeal and a half — one on one side and one on other — Adam 
and Eve on a raft and wreck'em — waspnest and salve — squeeze 'um and shoot 
the shoots." So sayeth Shorty to the cook in his restaurant. The cook being 
Shorty also, he follows his own instructions and in three jiffies the odor of 
yum-yum "eats" tells the w^aiting "patient" that his meal is on the road to 
recovery. 

Shorty was born in Union county on February 9, 1894, in the home of 
Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Roberts, and just as soon as he could pull a sprout, he did! 
Getting familiar with plows and hoes wasn't just to his "noshun" of correct 
living, and so he moved to Houlka to win the championship in baseball for 
the town. For four or five years he "mopped up" with batters, and they 
dittoed, too. But anyhow, he pitched his way into the Cotton States and 
would have stayed if the home bug had not buzzed in his ears to come back 
and feed the multitude. For several months he has run a spick and span 
"eats" and soft drinks establishment. 

Houlka High School gave him a liberal education in the fundamentals, and 
the town of Houlka gave him the rest. He is a Methodist and a W. O. W. 
Believes in the great motto of "Do unto others as I would have them do unto 
me." His ambition is to be a baseball pitcher some of these days of the future 
immediately. Thinks Houlka is "One of the best little towns in North Mis- 
sissippi, and knows it is inhabited by the best and most sociable people." 

Miss Eunice Tutor, a lady of fine character and a hustling type of Houlka 
womanhood, became the wife of Shorty on July 7, 1912. 

Besides his w^ork in restaurant, he has helped Mr, Thompson in the post- 
office with efficient rapidity and with polite manner to the lowest and highest. 



RAD HARR ILL REED 55 

J. C. SAXON 
Tonsorial Artist. 

In a neat little shop just south of the bank is the "official" shaver and hair 
trimmer of the town. The time is mid-afternoon and a man is reposing on the 
modern barber chair while the doctor of facial surgery is razing whiskers. 

"Whoop, that razor is some dull," shouted the man in chair. 

"You certainly must be wrong, Mister, for I just sharpened a pencil with 
it and she worked fine." 

So after the shave is over and the powder — either blasting or insect — has 
been distributed in his eyes, ears, nose and mouth, the man pays his measly 
dime and walks out into life again from that old saying a "close shave." 
But we can be mistaken as to the truth of the foregoing, for nothing like 
that ever happens in the shop of Curt Saxon. When it comes to shaving a 
man, he is the smilest of smiles on the Molly Jackson line. When drummers 
give him that dose you can be sure that they know the difference between a 
razor in the hands of an expert like Curt and a rake or grubbing hoe in the 
hands of a novice. He is not imported either, for on the 11th of May, 1882, 
he was born just one mile south of his present home in town. His parents, 
Thomas Fortson and Sallie Kirby Saxon, are of English ancestry and came 
to Mississippi from Georgia and South Carolina in 1840 and 1860. 

The school at old Houlka was the limit of Curt's education along that line, 
farming interfering with his desire to obtain a higher course of training in 
the great history of the world. Finally, he began barbering, and from the 
very first he made an average success — enough so to keep him at the profes- 
sion up to the present time. Clean heads and dirty heads, he has had to revo- 
lutionize into a more presentable appearance, thousands on thousands of 
times. The "life" he has seen in going over all these heads would be too bad 
to mention just here. As it is, he sees many things, hears other things, and 
feels things. Everybody likes Curt, and he likes them. In manicuring faces 
he is "Kurt the Keen Kutter," "Kurt the Kleen Kutter," and "Curt the capable." 
It takes some face carpenter to beat Curt "on the quick," for he can lather and 
shave a fellow while the next man is getting his collar unlocked from his neck. 

On the 11th of December, '08, Curt was married to Miss Lila Stubblefield, 
the refined Christian daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Stubblefield. They 
lived in Oklahoma for a few months and then came home for the happy ever 
after. 

Curt is a Methodist and a W. O. W. His motto is the good old Golden 
Rule, and his ambition is "To be a law-abiding citizen of my county — to make 
for myself and family an honest and independent living — do all I can for 
the country and town in which I live, and to render to others help to the 
best of my ability in time of need. Houlka has the most sociable people it 
has ever been my pleasure to know. I spent my boyhood among the people 
who are now my friends and customers. We have a great agricultural country 
around us and the people are beginning to realize the importance of raising 
more feedstuff" and more stock than they have heretofore. Large bodies of 
land have never been opened to cultivation, and in the near future we can 
look upon this land with the satisfaction of the progressive man who wants 
to go into the opportunities here that are unlimited in scope and in substance." 
So sayeth Curt the courteous. 

To find a more sanitary shop than Curt's you must go "heap piece," and 
not a more spick and span man can be found in all the Sunny Southland. 



JAMES A. SHIELDS 
Manufacturer and Dealer in Hardwood Lumber. 

James A. Shields' tree of life began on August 1, 1881, therefore the 
grains of his trunk or body would be thirty-three circles of brawn and 
muscle. His father and mother, James Norman and Alice Young Shields, 
are of Scotch-Irish ancestry, the father coming from Alabama in '56, and his 




Presbyterian (".liurch — Rev F. D. Daniel, Pastor. 




,$10,000.00 Houlka Hisb School Building. 



RAD HARRILL REED 57 



mother a native Mississippian. From Red Land, where he was born, he 
went to Texas and attended the Macey School for a few terms. Coming home 
he moved to Houlka and began to work in the big planing mill for Hall & 
Lankford. In this capacity he turned out much fancy lumber for the deco- 
rative schemes of the dilTerent homes in town and for homes farther away. 
A natural born machinist, he makes things hum when he puts his shoulder 
to the wheel. Dollars turn into two dollars and they into five and so-forthly 
so-on, when he even squints at lumber. 

November 2, 1905, Miss Adell Rackley, a very industrious lady of excellent 
character and jovial nature, became the wife of "Jim" in the town of Troy. 
Lester, Lillian and Morris are the children of this union. 

Jim is a Methodist and a W. O. W. The Golden Rule is his motto in life, 
and his big ambition is to be prosperous. He lives here because he thinks it 
is the most promising town on the Railroad, and because it is home to him. 
Jim knows lumber from stump to top. Has knots to overcome sometimes in 
life but tries to smooth the ragged edges into first-grade living and rips 
through a job true to the line in all the business he undertakes — and a man 
of solid heart six feet through. 



GEORGE W. STUBBLEFIELD 
Merchant and Bank Director, 

The subject of this sketch was born November 18, 1857, near Banner, Cal- 
houn county. His father, George Stubblefield, came to this section from Ten- 
nessee, and his mother, Emily Hawkins Stubblefield, was from Alabama, their 
ancestral nationality being strong Scotch-Irish. 

His education, limited to only a few terms, was obtained in the Banner 
public schools. Before becoming a merchant in that town where he pros- 
pered from the start, he was a farmer, and helped till the home farm for sev- 
eral years. For several years before moving to Houlka he did a big country 
trade in the progressive town of Sarepta, in the western part of Calhoun. 

January 2, 1878, he was married to Miss Ellen Freeman, a lady of splendid 
character and the very one to make a happy home for genial, generous 
"Stubby." Four children have come into their life of happiness and content- 
ment: Mrs. Virgie Powell, Mrs. Lila Saxon, Clifton and Dr. Doyle, 

He is a Missionary Baptist, a Mason and Woodman of the World. Besides 
this, he is a bank director, and is helpful in all enterprises relative to the 
town. When he moved to Houlka, he engaged in business under the firm 
name of Stacy Bros. & Stubblefield. Later he sold out and now does a dry 
goods and grocery trade in the store he has always occupied. He has made 
a reputation for honest dealing with everybody, and is in every way an all- 
round substantial man. 

His motto is, "Trust others as I would have them trust me." He says this: 
"I never lived among better people and I think Houlka has a bright future 
ahead of her. It is a good business point with great possibilities for more 
extensive trade and progression." 

Mr. Stubby is a gentleman always, friendly to everybody, kind and sympa- 
thetic, wears a smile and speaks a good word to all. A man of great experi- 
ence and rare business qualifications. 

W. CLIFTON STUBBLEFIELD 
Salesman. 

A Christmas present in the form of Clifton Stubblefield was given to Mr. 
and Mrs. George William Stubblefield on December 25, 1885, for sure-enough 
"keeps." So when old Santa left the town of Banner after delivering the tiny 
present, he thought for once in his life he had made one family happy. 

The schools of Banner and Sarepta were the scenes of his early instruc- 
tion, and many tales from that neighborhood tell of his wonderful marks — 



58 H () I' L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O 1) A Y 

on the desks. Nevertheless he succeeded in passing up enough of the old 
things to give him a good grip on the atTairs of the world. Later he moved 
to Houlka from the town of "Schreplj'^" and began to clerk in his father's 
store. 

April 15, 1911, Clifton surprised his friends and took unto himself a wife. 
Miss Jinnnie May Kirby, the beautiful daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Kirby, 
was his chosen companion, and to them have been born one child — Eunice, 
who delights them both with her childish prattle and sweetness. 

His motto is "Honesty," and he lives it, too. "I like the people and town," 
quoth he in his letter, "For it is some persimmon along with the rest of them." 

Clif is a W. O. W. and man of sound common sense, ready to help in any 
cause for the uplift of the town and community. As a salesman, he is polite 
patient, accommodating. Jolly, unique Clif Stubblefield. 

WILLIAM A. THOMAS 
Lumberman and Progressive Farmer. 

Over in Alabama long, long time ago — and even Uncle Billy doesn't quite 
remember the occasion — two great events simultaneously occurred. One was 
the birth of 1844, and the other was the birth of W. A. Thomas, on the cold 
New Year's day of that time — but Uncle Billy outgrew that old year, and also 
his clothes, for it wasn't many moons before he was wearing out holes in his 
pants on the rough-hewn seats of the few and far-apart schools of that dim 
yesterday. Years have died and gone glimmering into the realm of "never 
come back," but Uncle Billy has braved seventy of them through storm and 
sunshine, and is now the grand old man of Houlka, loved by everybody, every- 
where. 

His father and mother, George \Vashington Thomas and Juda Elvira Rat- 
clitl" Thomas, were of Irish extraction, settling in Alabama many years before 
the Civil War. 

Miss Georgia Ann Calhoun, a lady of most estimable character, became the 
wife of Mr. Thomas on October 15^ 1869. Mary Ella, Johnnie Belle, Bettie 
Elvira, Willie Ann, Modess and John are the children of this long time and 
happily married pair. 

Uncle Billy is a Methodist and a Mason. Wants "to live as long as possi- 
ble without harm to anyone." Lives here because, "I like it. Good town. 
Good i)eople." 

As a saw mill man, he has cut thousands of as fine logs as could be found 
in Calhoun bottoms, hauling it with his big oxen all over Chickasaw county. 
For some years he worked the convicts of the county on his farm, on the roads 
and in building bridges. When the town boomed he established a livery busi- 
ness, and finally turned it over to his son so he could look after interests 
back home. Contracts for laying pikes and grading for railroad line are 
his "long suits," and he is still at it with all the nuiscle and grit of his younger 
days. He is always jolly, and has a smile of "Howdie Bud-die," for all the 
young people who greet him in a feeling of almost awe as to his giant size 
and the very embodiment of a man who could grapple with a circular saw 
and overpower it. 

JOHN THOMAS 
Liveryman. 

John Thomas, son of the man just preceding, was born in Chickasaw 
county on October 18, 1880. Before many days he crawled out of his little 
dresses into the more manly uniform of pants and a blouse. From that to 
long pants and manhood. Patent leather slijipers and "coming Jonali" col- 
lars, vari-colored socks and a fancy vest, were the next assets to his stock of 
untold happiness. 

The schools of Houlka were the all-in-all of his education in "Readin', 
'ritin' and 'rithmetick." His two legs served as vehicles for the carriage of 



R A D H A R R I L L R E E D 59> 



his body and tongue to this school for many days, and as lie got his chain 
of thought in good riding shape to trace over a bit of rough shod literature, 
there was whipped into being a well-harnessed man, clad in all the livery 
of a well-groomed, well-fed gentleman. Possibly he was strapped now and 
then with other "bands" of boys, but having a father and mother who kept 
him well bridled and tied with a tight rein as to behaving himself, naturally 
cautioned him to keep shy about getting into a snap. They spoke with 
authority and he cantered oil" to the barn to launder the limbs and manicure 
the nails of the horses and mules. As a four-tined clerk in the livery stable 
of his own he is a thoroughbred. Can fork over the goods when called on — 
it's team-work with him, anyhow. 

To Miss Willie Jackson, a very industrious lady and Christian character, 
he was married on June 16, 1907. He brought her all the way from Water 
Valley to the place he thinks of as "a better place than anywhere else, and 
because my home is here." One child, Oscar Thomas, is Popper John's de- 
lightsome "sugar plum." 

John is a Methodist and a W. O. W. Wants to be a big farmer some of 
these days, and with that he carries the life of "Truth and Honesty." 

"Houlka is a moving little town and I think we have some of the best peo- 
ple on earth." 

LAFAYETTE L. THOMAS 
Mayor and Butcher. 

On the ranges in Alabama "Fate" Thomas was born on January 10, 1870. 
His parents, Samuel Alford and Rebecca Emily Moore Thomas, were Scotch 
and Irish descent, and blazed their way into that new country long before 
the pop-gun combat of the Civil War. His mother still lives in the home of 
his birth, Mr. Thomas coming to Calhoun and thence to Houlka. 

With the other "yearlings" of school capacity, he was rounded up in the 
corral of learning, where he "heard" nuich, saw much and cut-up much — 
the desks, as all boys do in the school room. School law was drawn too "fine" 
for his freedom and possibly he stood on less than two feet in the calaboose 
of all school buildings. The teacher would court no such cases of misdemeanor 
and he acted the jury, judge and witness to make all culprits keep the peace. 
So Fate grew up, fat and muscular, genial and friendly, ready to "try" any- 
thing. 

After farming in Calhoun for some years, he pulled up "steaks" and 
moved to Houlka to become the Mayor and butcher of the town, so that he 
might "liver" better life, free his heart from care, fill his lungs with good 
pure air, interpret the law for those void of understanding, roast those 
who do wrong, "meat" his friends and customers without a gristle, and to go- 
at business in a non-hog-it-all way. He can be found in his rather capacious 
abattoir or market where he is weighing in the balance and is not found 
wanting. Pounds away on some nice animal that lost its breath for the sake 
of the large Houlka tum-tum, and grinds the soul and thoughts of that animal 
into sausage for more tum-tums. 

On August 10, 1891, he was married to the "light of his soul and the best 
lady in U. S. A." in the person of Miss INIary Ella Thomas. Five children — 
Georgia, William Alford, Jodie, Irene and Erlene — have been born to this 
union. 

Mayor Thomas is a Methodist, and lives to the motto of "Equal rights to 
all," and to the ambition of "To live right." Lives in Houlka because "I like 
it," and thinks the place is up to the dot and has the best people on the line. 

As the xMayor of Houlka, he is popular and elTicient — steady and just. 

JOHN SELEY THOMPSON 
Merchant and Postmaster. 

Springtime had circled into summer and the rhythm of darky melodies 
filled the air with a wonderful feeling of peace and contentment that seemed 



60 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 

to make life a grand sweet song and everybody singing it to the tune of 
happiness and good will to man. Just such a time was June 20, 1872, the 
birthday of "Uncle Seelum." Being nurtured as it were, in the glories of those 
happy days, when a trip to Okolona or Pontotoc was like going to heaven 
without having to go through any special delivery exercises, and when every- 
body loved each other for the real sake of loving and not for a dollar — so it 
was a life of this kind that he grew from a sprightly little "bitsum boy" intc 
a man of well "rounded" proportions, both mental and physical. 

His parents, James Thomas and Cornelia DeLashmet Thompson, trace 
their nationality up from England and France, and settled in Mississippi long 
before the war. His mother, "Aunt Carrie," as all the Houlka people know 
her, still lives with her son, Frank, in the old home west of town. 

In the Houlka school he learned his "letters" and today is a well lettered 
man. Thousands of letters have passed through his fingers to and from all 
parts of the world. His mind is a lock-box that no man can open, for when a 
thing is to be "kept mum" there is no unlocking — the combination won't work. 
It is cancelled forever. Still there is stamped in his brain a jolly good word 
for everybody and it being due to come out in order, does so on time. Ad- 
dresses you always with the smile that just can't be shaved off, erased, 
blotted or perishable. He is one big package of fun — goodness — accommo- 
dation. A man who registers many little curiosities of postofTice humanity 
that makes him chuckle from his gurgle to his toes. To keep a postoffice it 
necessarily requires a good nature. Thirteen children will ask for thirteen 
other people thirteen times each per day. "x\ir they any mail for Cozin Bill, 
Aunt Phronie, Sister Sulie, Grany Grunter, Jones, Smith, Brown, Robinson, 
Johnson, Litchvowsky, Daminetti, Macaroni, Spaghetti, and hundreds of 
others that never got a letter in all their lives. It is rather a pleasant job to say 
"nothing doing" 769 times per. With it all the people love him and he is 
insured for life in the hearts of every citizen in old and new Houlka. With ex- 
pert rapidity he flips letter after letter into the boxes from the big sacks of 
mail that come daily from four trains. 

After studying through the session of '95 and '96 at Mississippi College, 
he came home to marry the "best friend" he ever had. August 4, 1897, was the 
date, the place was the Houlka Baptist Church and the lady was Miss Emma 
BulTkin, known by many Houlka people as Miss Emma Eiland. She is one of 
the truest, most pleasant and Christian characters that the writer has ever 
known, and if ever there was a more congenial couple in all the world — well, 
there is none, never, nowhere. Happiness with them is the most natural part 
of their life. 

In 98 he and his brother Frank established a trade of general merchan- 
dise in old Houlka and for about ten years did the largest business in Houlka. 
Then the new town sprung up and he had to move the postofTice, having been 
chosen to the postmastership in September, 1901. For few years the office 
was run near Houlka Drug Co., and later moved to east corner of Jenkin's 
brick block. With the office he also has a general stock of goods. The office 
is fixed in nice order and with the lock boxes and three rural route desks and 
boxes arranged in a row, he is thoroughly equipped for business. 

Uncle Seelum has been the secretary-treasurer for the Baptist Church 
for several years and always serves his church with zeal and enthusiasm for 
the betterment of the community. Is a Mason, O. E. S. and a W. O. W. Uncle 
Seelum, the happy man — the good man — the gentle-man. 



CHARLIE N. THORN 
Ginner and Machinist. 

Pittsboro, a good-sized town in Calhoun, waked up on the morning of Sep- 
tember 13, 1875, to hear the happy news that a bouncing, (maybe he wasn't but 
that is the name for most of them), boy, had made an indefinite visit into the 
home of William N. and Nancy E. Mooneyham Thorn. They were of Scotch- 
Irish ancestry, and blazed their way from South Carolina through the wilds of 
the country into Calhoun about 1850. So the little fellow, Charlie, grew up 



RADHARRILLREED 61 

midst circular saws, gins and lumber yards. Became an expert ginner and 
all-round man in mechanical work. 

After attending the school of his home and working in the mills he was 
married on May 6, 1903, name of wife not given, except Annie. In answer 
to question about children he says: "Too numerous to mention." He is 
a K. P. and W. O. W. Is now the manager of the big gin of the old planing 
mill company. It has been overhauled and last year he ginned many hundreds 
of bales to the satisfaction of all his patrons. He is a genial, jolly man. Be- 
lieves strictly in attending to his own business and the Golden Rule. 

LOTHAIRE TOWERY 
Salesman and Pressing Club. 

Stars were leaking shredded cocoanut all over the land in a swirling, whirl- 
ing mass of flakes, and on that day, January 22, 1895, when the earth was 
covered, (the almanac said it snowed that day), a tiny snowball, a round, 
roly, wriggling little fellow, greeted the family with a call for snow cream— 
a treat so dear to Southern people and especially the younger set. His 
parents, Lothaire Otho and Annie Hughes Walker Towery, were of Scotch- 
Irish nationality, most of their people coming from Alabama. 

At the time of Lothaire's birth, his parents were living in the big board- 
ing house, famous in the history of Old Houlka. From there they moved to 
a home of their own, where Mrs. Sallie Norman now lives. For a few years, 
Lothaire went to the public school and helped his father in the big general 
store at the cross-roads. When the town was begun a mile and a half west, 
Lothaire moved with the family and again helped his father and attended the 
new High School for four or five years. Where Mr. D. R. Patterson, Sr., 
now lives, was the Towery home until they builded another nearer town, 
where Lothaire lives with his mother, sisters and brother. 

Lothaire is running a successful pressing club and keeps the sports and 
those who really w^ant to look neat, constantly supplied with the latest creases 
to suit the most fastidious fancy. Always keeps his cuff rolled up for busi- 
ness, spots every garment for spots, laughs up his sleeve occasionally, never 
gives a customer the cold shoulder, bags the coin and pockets the kale, keeps 
his tongue well collared and buttoned and has an iron determination to be a 
lawyer. "A first-class lawyer and not a jack-leg." With this he follows 
the motto of "Be sure you are right and then go ahead." List to Lothaire : 

"While Houlka is yet a small town it has possibilities of becoming the 
best town in North Mississippi. Through the dim vista of coming days we can 
see the Congress Halls, pulpits and all places of honor filled with boys and 
girls from Houlka — and we hope not the penitentiary." Ouch! 



W. T. TURNER 
Merchant, Farmer, Ex-Mayor. 

W. T. Turner, Ex-Mayor of both Oxford and Houlka, was born in Alabama 
on the 19th of July, 1847. His father and mother, William Thomas and 
Cynthia Haywood Turner, came into Mississippi from Alabama and settled 
in Lafayette County. 

His schooling, besides that of much experience, was obtained in the log 
cabin school of Chulifinee, Ala. 

December 25, 1871, he was married to Miss Henrietta McClain Salmon, a 
very industrious lady of splendid womanhood, and to this couple were born 
the following children: Harvey Lee, Cora Irene, Georgia, Emmette, Mell Doni, 
Victoria, Ollie Olender, William Bee, T. V. R., John William, Mary Haywood 
and Barbara Allen. 

Mr. Turner is a Baptist. An ambition to be a "Prohibitionist" and a motto 
of "Push forward and be kind to everybody." He deals in groceries, feed- 
stuff", fertilizer, insurance, real estate and vegetable plants. For a while his 



62 llOri.KA YK SIKH DAY I'ODAY 

sloro \v:is ihic oasi of llio prosrnl poslolTicr on llio 'Puiiut side of [he (own. 
it btMiif; one oi' llio vriy lirsl in Ihr iu>\v city. Now ho lias a small sU>rc bolwooii 
llir (lopol and Mr. Andiows' bij^ ^\u. 

Before ino\in}Ji Ironi Oxford lo lloulka he srivod Iho rornior town in Iho 
fajiacily of May<)r for several lernis. taUinj;; up the same dulies Tor lloulka 
tlirei'lly al'ler lie became one of ils lirst eili/.ens. In bolb places be did credit- 
able work lo Hie satisl'action of bis many liiends and acciuaintances. 

Quotin;;: "I lliink lloulka is a business little lown. a jj;o(nl town to make 
money. May it continue to firow as it has in the past. 1 like it and think 
the people are just as ^cuxl as you can lind anywhere. Had ratliei" live here 
Iban in any otlier place and expect to make this my bome until death calls 
me away." 

Mr. Turner is a man of liif^h moral cbaracter. and a man oi' keen business 
perce|>tion willintJi and ready to back up any cbaiitable iiu»vement relative 
to the relief oi' those in distress and i'ov any march of bustle aiul hurry to the 
tutuie prot^ress of the best town in North Mississippi. 



T. V. rilHNKK 
Merchant. 

In the city of Oxford. .lanuaiy '_'.'{. bSSC). T. \'. Tuiner was born. His father 
is William 'riiomas Turner, oi' the abo\e sketi'h. The Oxford lli.y;h St'luiol 
was llu> limit oi' his text bi»ok lulucation. Tlirouj;b it be applied himself 
dilif^ently and faithfully. Had a bi^ time as boys will have and indulj^ed in all 
the school frames oi' base, bull pen. "antony i)ver" and every innocent little 
exercise so much lo\ed by the children of old time school days. 

Auj^ust 22. 1007, he married Miss .Vddie l.ue Roberts, the excellent and 
industri(»us dauf^hter of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hoberts. Two i-bildren. four years 
and IS montlis of a^e. respectively. Auber baumetl and l>ee Lamar, arc the 
blessiuf^s of this marriajjio. 

"Toe N'oe" is a liaptist. a Woodman oi' the WoiUl and a merchant. His 
motto "Ht) to others as you would have them i\o io you" tells the story oi' bis 
life; for in all his dealings with the citizens of lloulka be has so conducted 
bimself. Always ready to serve you in the politest and nu^st cordial mantier 
williout "put on" or nuu-li iu\o o\ev nc^hinj;. l\>r several years he has run an 
up to dali' restaurant, ^roi'cry and soda fountain. Scllinij; out this business to 
"Shorty" Uoberts, he became en^a^ed in the nu>vini^ picture prcdession. having* 
(piite a picturestpie success in reelinf.i Ibrouf^b sexeral perfiumances anu>aj4 the 
natives of the surrounding;; country. He is now running; a nunlern bakery antl 
does a very y,ood business alon^ this line. Naturally, be is trying to rise in 
life, in order lo have rolls in the bank. He is self-risiuii never loafs; but cake- 
walks llirt)u^li bis business looking; for the tlouf^h. 

His ambition is. "To make lloulka a city of ten tlu>usand inhabitants and 
a clean city without whiskey in its limits." Quoth be in bis letter: 

"The reason I like lloulka is because it is a {jjood town [o make iiumey 
in. I like the i>eoi)le. and I think the people like me. I have been in business 
here since lOHI, and have sold out se\eral times; l)ut always start bai'k be- 
cause il is a business town.' 

l^verylnxly speaks well o( T. \'.. aiul think him a \ery induslriiuis antl 
hardworking younjj; man. He is bappy when he helps others, and that's 
the essence of bis soul. .\ moral, cleanly. Christian man. Small in stature; 
larjjje in j^oodness. 

Since the above was written, T. \'. has moved to l\Mitotoc lo run a res- 
taurant. 

LEK ANDREWS TUHNKR. 

Merchant. 

Thirty-four years a^o and a wee bit over. Lee rurner was born on l'\'b- 
rnary 2 lib, in tlie county of I'lUilotoc. His parents. .lobn L. antl Mary Turner. 



HAD HAIUIILI. Hi:i:i) 63 



were of r^n^lish origin and moved liom old "Al:d>am" lo llic I'oiiloloc rid^^o 
about Ihc year '()4. 

His schoolinj^ was oblaincd al Delay, Miss., when he could spare cnouj^h 
lime Ironi (he iarni and olher necessary work about the home. Today lie is 
a uian ol" sound business judf^menl and ^ood conmion sense. 

Miss Ada Tuinei', a very estimable and industrious cliaracler, maiiied 
Mr. 'i'luner willioul liavin^ lo change tier name, ('osby Obey and C.ollon 
Alder 'I'urner are the childien of this de\<)led union. 

He is a !?ai>lis[ and nuMuber of Woodmen of llie W'oild. Lives to llieii" pic- 
cepls with llie mollo ol" '"fo do ^ood." '"i'o maUe lloulUa tlie best town in 
North Mississi|)pi" is liis ^real and sincere and)ition. As a starter alon}^ 
lines ol" modern livinj^ and impro\emenl, he became llic ownei' ol" the lirst 
aidomobilc that ever made IloulUa its honu. To see him scoolinj; about the 
".fr>,()l)0" mile roads you would Ihiidv he was an "old head." Lcc was Ihc last 
uian we thought would ever in(lulf.ic in such inexpensive luxuries, and to the 
surprise olall IloulUa, he whizzed into town like a bat out ol" Helena. The car 
is here yet and so is Lee. b'or many <lays he has walked back and forth 
to his store just as he aido do, Toi" his j^as wa^oii has had Ihc ^oiit or the 
l)alks since "when." 

As a nieichaiit, be has the trade ol" many citizens of the town and sur- 
roundin}4 country, and deals scpiarely with both black and white. He is 
located in the former J. I'., ('obb store on west row. In limes of need be is a 
iriend indeed. 

"I like Houlka and the people. Think il will be the best small town in the 
State and on the whole the pco[)le are above the a\eraj^e in cveiy way." 

Wn:LIAM CLEMENT WALKER 
Physician and Surgeon. 

Hippocrates and Arislotic startled the nations with some medical mate- 
rializations that ha\e come <lowii the a^cs without seiious contradiction or 
disastrous dissection in fniidamcnlals or theorclically wroii^ in its compre- 
hensive complexilics. Daminclli, what a pill ! (let the anli-kamnia lluanti- 
phlof^istine some calaplasmic concoction foi" the head hurry, or the patient 
will mix vomica. All over. I'aliciit resting, but kindei- "valcrious." 

Hut the world went merrily on, siilVcrin^ lorlnrcs untold. Harvey lived 
and f^ave to the world the circulation of Ihc blood, (lalcii and Koch came on 
and left their wonderful anti-toxins and scrums lo be placed hi^h on the pa^<'S 
of medical mysteries as the evolution ol" medicine lea|»cd from baircii facts 
to the sciciitilic system il is today. Osier, Mayo, Mur|)hy and Carrel ^ave 
lo the world the most delicate opcialioiis that man has ever known. 

Doctors were still in Ihc making one more was to be born and born he 
was, on ,Iuiie II, liSf)'.). Doctor Hilly was the little man, and up tlii()ii^;h the 
age of paregoric, calomel and soothing syrup, with a long slim regulator on 
the mantel, he jiassed fioin the annual spring douchings or drciichings of 
various treacle and other ancillarics for ancient ailments, into young manhood 
teeming with energy and a strong desire to become a member of Ihe medical 
profession. 

His iirogcnitors, William L. and .Icannclte Mollatt Walker, lived in Hous- 
ton at the time ol" Dr. liilly's birth, but moved later to Ihe farm now owned by 
•L W. Hamilton. They trace their ancestry lo Ireland aiul Scotland, the two 
lainilies being \c'iy prominent j»ionccrs into this new country many years 
ago. Doctor Hilly s|)ciil most ol" his boyhood days in Houston going to tlu; 
schools ol" that town. Since that lime he has constantly applied himself to Ihe 
great profession of gaining knowledge by reading and thinking. Today he 
is one of the best read men in all the conntry roundabout. When lit^ reads 
an article he knows it and can tell you about it lluently, j)leasanlly and 
entertainingly. 

He was graduated from the Vanderbill University of Medicine in bSML 
F'roni that time he has practiced in the vicinity of lh)ulka with extraordinaiy 



64 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

success in curing the ills of humanity, but not so good at making them "pay" 
their bills. In cases of pneumonia and typhoid fever he is without a peer. 
Numbers of cases he has brought from the very grip of death to convalescence 
and then to strength again. His good humor and pleasantries are Just as good 
as his medicine and dozens of times he has tickled his patient into normal 
health again from sheer force of jollification and mimickry. The man is 
yet to be born who can't be mimicked by Doctor Billy. The funny side of 
every act, word, and all the curious things he sees in his rounds of the 
country, appeal to him as it does to no other man, and in relating these he can 
stir the risibilities of the hardest tickle-bone that ever lived. But still there 
is a serious side to Doctor Billy, and when you want to delve deep with him 
into the intricacies of the human soul and dissect the monumental minds of 
the universe into all of their composite parts, there comes from one of the 
most versatile brains I know the most beautiful thoughts, clothed in all the 
glories of the English language, that the mind of any man could compound 
into such inspirational exquisitness and sublime simplicity. It is a "treat- 
ment" that will do you good. To live in the radiant rhythm of his reminis- 
cences makes a man think, look, listen. Good Doctor Billy — the first human 
I ever saw. 

On November 28, 1883, he was married to Miss Ida Whitehead, a lady of 
refined character, blending therein all the industrious traits of Christian 
womanhood, and from that day 'till this, they have helped others through 
sickness and suffering, and now, with their children near them, they live hap- 
pily as Grandpap and Grandmother with joyous hearts and cheerful souls. 
The children are: John Childress, Wilbert L., Sam Sidney, Bessie May, James 
Bell, Nellie, Oscar Merrill, and Joseph Garrett. Three are known as "Sugar 
Bread, Jim Rooster and Jo Pete." 

He is a member of the Methodist church. Mason, O. E. S. and W. O. W. 
Prominent in them all — serving as Worshipful Master, Worthy Patron and 
Consul Commander. He lives in Houlka, "For health, pleasure and profit. 
The people are thrifty, social and pleasant." His ambition is, "To leave a good 
name for his children," and his motto is, "Make my mortal dreams come 
true, with the work I fain would do." There he is — exquisite, imperishable, 
genial Doctor Billy! 

FRANKLIN J. WALKER 
Chickasaw County Tax Assessor 

Many "great" men are born and reared on a farm — so was Frank Walker. 
The East grew luminous and the orb of day rose in all the glories of an 
Autumnal morning. The time was October 30, 1869, the place was a few 
miles east of old Houlka, and the parents were William L. and Jeannette 
MofTatt Walker. The valuation of this young property was placed at a billion 
dollars, and the real worth of the man has increased so much that just com- 
mon figures get all balled up in trying to approximate or estimate the exact 
amount. 

To the Mississippi State Normal at Houston he went to collect a fund of 
information and at the rate he studied it wasn't long before he had adjusted 
much literary and scientific property to the assets of his mind into an equali- 
zation of knowledge that serves him as well in justly appraising the person- 
alty and other property of the Chickasaw people. 

For a few years he held the position of State Organizer for the W. O. W. 
in Alabama and successfully established dozens and dozens of camps through 
the State. He is a natural orator and when he opened up on the fraternal 
blessings of the Woodmen there was no limit to its scope and enthusiasm. 
The English language never got so near Heaven in all of its existence until 
Frank soared on the wings of imagination and swept the outskirts of the 
stars. Cicero and Ingersoll were just medium manipulators of oratory com- 
pared to the chin music of P'ranklin Walker. He had those Alabamians chop- 
ping and log rolling the year round ; he was the "go gitter, the come fetchum," 
who challenged the nation for an equal. 



RAD HARRILL REED 65 



In August, 1911, he was chosen Tax Assessor over a dozen opponents, 
winning out in second primary. In that capacity he has served the county 
faithfully and satisfactorily. His assessments are popular and his bookkeep- 
ing a model of neatness. The State Auditor writing him thai the books were 
the best kept in the State of Mississippi. He wants to make good — he is mak- 
ing good. 

Few months later he was married to Miss Margaret Sledge, a most esti- 
mable and refined young lady of Duck Hill, Miss., on November 14, 1911. 
John Curtis Walker and Marvin Lee, the latter a foster son, are the children. 

Mr. Walker is a Methodist, Royal Arch Mason, K. P., K. O. T. M., O. E. S., 
and W. O. W. In O. E. S. he served as Worthy Patron for one term. 

His ambition in life is "To raise the standard of manhood," and with that 
the motto of "To serve my friends." In answer to a letter he says : 

"Houlka is the best place on earth. After many years of travel in all the 
States but two, I find Houlka the healthiest and best people in the world. 
After a long study of human nature of near all races of people, I find more 
good old-fashioned family feeling than I found in any of the States or other 
countries I have been. If this earth should ever become heaven Houlka will 
certainly become a favorite spot," 

For many years he was engineer on various roads in Mississippi and Ken- 
tucky, Thrilling experiences almost every day happened around him, and 
finally, in a big wreck, both of his legs were broken in several places. Be- 
sides this, he has painted United States battleships, hanging over the side 
while ship was speeding twenty knots an hour. Thirteen-inch cannon poked 
their mouths over his head but he painted on, seeing much of the world in the 
travels of the ship. From that to other jobs until he came to Houlka and 
ran for Justice of the Peace, Won and served the town wisely and justly. 

When he takes a "noshun" he can look the most distinguished gentleman 
ever walked the streets of any city. A stove pipe hat, gold headed cane, llower 
in lapel, cigar in his mouth, diamond on finger and seven dollars in his 
pocket, and you have the latest millionaire in the person of Franklin J. 
Walker. 

JOHN CHILDRESS WALKER 
Physician and Surgeon. 

"Hurry, Doc, my wife's got the conflickshuns running up and down her 
rinal colyum; hurry and come release her." Such greetings come to Doctor 
John, the popular young physician of Houlka, and up and down the country 
he goes "releasing" various hallucinations and hypochondriated ideas that 
possess the neurasthenics and sure-enough sick people of the community. 

The origin of this Doctor's personality was March 18, 1885; rather far into 
antediluvian antiquity, but he "evoluted" up through the periods of cutaneous 
abrasions, compound cathartics, asafetida around his neck, plenty of ballast 
in his stummie, sprained imaginations, lame excuses to keep out of school, 
and on into maturity with a feverish ambition to study medicine. 

His father and mother. Doctor W. C. and Mrs. Ida Whitehead Walker were 
living in the town of old Houlka when John was born — father a native Miss- 
issippian, and mother a native of Alabama, coming to Mississippi in 1880. 

To the Houlka school, John made a call now and then, until he had finished 
every book that the teachers could handle. From here he went to the Normal 
at Houston and then to University of Nashville to study medicine. His hopes 
were hopping along fine, and he boned and crammed so much therapeutical 
and anthropological science that it just oozed from his philosophical pro- 
fundity like a street sprinkler. Patented panaceas for pale people filled his 
hirsute apex from his "oriental to occidental," and pathological phenomena 
coupled with bacteriological bacillus almost ran him "buggy" in their micro- 
scopic multiplicities and hysterical pronunciation. From Nashville he went 
to the Memphis Hospital and Medical College, and after two more years 
of boning he graduated with honors. Coming home he began practice with 
his father. 



66 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

Some time before he married, John became highly interested in the Primary 
Department of the Houlka High School. Never before had a man taken such 
interest in a school. He lectured to the pupils about their bodies and especi- 
ally about the "heart." Miss Leola Morris, a splendid teacher and a most 
refined Christian lady, was the cause of all this enthusiasm. John just 
couldn't see but one "patient" in a whole day, and that was Miss Morris. 
Trips to Whiteville, Tenn., became frequent and at last he made her i)ulse 
beat to the tune of "yes" after he had gone through a spasmodic, epileptic, 
palpitative and choking efl'ort to ask the "condition" of lier feelings. She 
met him at New Albany on the 25th of December, 1910, and the preacher made 
the diagnosis according to his notion of just how the case should be operated 
upon. Both "came to" after the sewing up process was over and left for the 
city of honeymoon in the land of fuss and feathers. Juanita Atwell Walker 
is their snooky-ookums — precious itsum-bitsum, roly-poly, bestest child. 

Doctor John is a member M. E. Church, Masons, K. P., W. O. W., Red Men 
and K. O. T. M. Also belongs to Mississippi Medical Association, and is 
called on now and then to read papers before that body. 

"To relieve suffering humanity" is his ambition, and in the fulfillment of 
that great work, he has for his motto, "Live and let live." 

"I live in Houlka because my interests are here. The town is located in 
one of the healthiest and most fertile sections of the State, and is near one of 
the finest hardwood belts in the South. With our cosmopolitan people you 
can find most any manner of 'species' known to human research." 

In practicing his profession among the Houlka "gizzards," John has done 
wonderful work, and the people look upon him as they always did his fattier — 
with that same confidence and belief. He has efi^ected cures that seem almost 
miracles with his lotions and potions, antipyretics and other remedial agents, 
dosed according to the patient's — er pocketbook. With his quaint originality 
he keeps sick people well and w^ell people "weller." 

WILBERT LAFAYETTE WALKER 
Pharmacist. 

"Me tant dit de dun — me leg toe." So sayeth Wilbert when asked by some 
admirer long time ago "to get the gun." Meaning a popular jig that all the 
boys of Houlka tried to dance in imitation of the colored people. His leg 
was sore on account of a hot potato. Tlie cook gave him a large spud fiery 
hot. Shoving it in his pocket to keep from burning his fingers mighty sud- 
denly. The pocket having been worn out by hooks, rocks, knives, and every- 
thing known to boydom, the hot potato naturally slipped downward. Just 
about the knee it stuck. Not another yell ever cut loose from that boy's throat 
"before taking or after taking," just like that one. Mustang liniment, caustic, 
sulphuric acid or bi-chloride of mercury couldn't compare with the warmth 
of that yam. "Call a doctor, quick," shrieked Doctor Walker, forgetting 
suddenly that he was a licensed M. D. But Wilbert had swooned — a gone 
gosling — "daid." At last it was removed, together with six inches of good 
American hide. Applications of Fletcher's Castoria, Simmon's Regulator and 
a few drops of Peruna eased the pain, and Wilbert waked into being again. 
But today he carries that scar of conllict just as if nothing happened — though 
he and yams haven't any mutual love whatever. 

April 10, 1889, was his birthday, and he greeted all the visitors witli that 
characteristic smile of "I'm here, ain't us." He is the second son of Dr. and 
Mrs. W. C. Walker, and was born in three hundred feet of the typewriter 
that is unlocking his life story. 

The Houlka High School and French Camp Academy were the limits of 
his literary education. Tendencies toward tinctures and tablets, tumultuous 
tum-tum twisters, the transmutation of toothsome torments that tickle the 
taker to take thrice times three in a twinkling, ticklish and titled territory 
and a titanic tratlic in toxicology tests told the tale that his thoughts turned 
to therapeutical treatments. So he began work in he Houlka Drug Store 
when it was first established. From that time he has been the prescription 



RAD HARR ILL REED 67 



compounder for that company, but for a few months that he worked in Pon- 
totoc and Houston. He is Wilbert the willing, the whizzer, the wonderful 
wizard. Saccharine substances, cordial concoctions and conglomerative com- 
pounds cringe to his touch. Medicines quiver and equivocate as to the next 
solution he will conjure into sixty cents or a bean and a half. Popular as the 
day is long, and everybody from Katydid to Katydidn't has bought some drug 
from him and enjoyed his funnyisms and pleasant smiles. 

On January 8, 1913, Wilbert and Miss Sarah Uras Murphree were com- 
pounded into one for the rest of their happy life. She is a young lady of 
rare beauty and excellent womanhood — just the helpmate for Wilbert — the 
best prescription for both. He is building a home of his own, and expects to 
move in soon as he can stock his pantry with a ham, two eggs, bag of salt, 
pound of sugar, grain of corn, can of coITee and two spoons. 

Wilbert is a member of the M. E. Church, Masonic Lodge, W. O. W. and 
was once a Red Man. The paint wore oil', the feathers dusted and the Braves 
went up in a whoop. Nothing but a picture remains of the mounted tribe. 
His ambition is "To do right and succeed." With that, is his motto of "Live 
and let live." Wilbert wisely wisdoms : 

"I live in Houlka because of its pleasures and profits. The people are ener- 
getic, thrifty and generous. The growth is wonderful and its future is brighter 
than any town in Mississippi." 

Talk tonic topics to this thinker and he'll thrill ten thousand testimonials. 

FIFE WILLIAMS 
Justice of the Peace. 

"By Neds, I've won a barrel of Hour; look out, people, I'm gone." In 
just two jiffs and a jump he split that summer day wide open and landed 
in the store of the Houlka Mercantile Co. A contest was in progress, and the 
man who had the duplicate of 2355 (I think that was the number drawn) 
would be entitled to the best barrel of flour in the house. "By Neds, she's 
mine, come over Sunday you folks, and we'll have everything that flour can 
make." With a whoop and a scoot, he had that barrel rolling homeward to 
the tune of his famous whistle. His family thought he had gone crazy, but 
when the flour rolled in, their fears were settled and hopes rose to yum-yum 
biscuit and lightbread. 

But he hasn't been born yet, and we've been telling about that flour "fit" 
he had. Nevertheless, he was born in 1860, fifty-four years some time soon. 
He chose his parents in the persons of Samuel C. and Elizabeth Madison Wil- 
liams, who were of English extraction, and moved from Alabama to Missis- 
sippi in 1835. 

To the little school of Siloam he gleefully glided into its glories and gump- 
tions, geographies and grammar, goodies and games. In that little house he 
signed, sealed and delivered the first letter he ever wrote to his "lady love." 
Said letter being duly torn in accordance to law and the witnesses thereof 
were the whole school who immediately passed judgment upon the misde- 
meanor. Many cases came up just like that one, and he finally persuaded 
Miss Virgie Davis through the Court of Appeals, and after much testimony 
about his trials and tribulations to suspend judgment of his former wrongs 
and make a verdict in his favor. On August 21, 1881, by an overwhelming 
majority, the seal was affixed, the circuit made, license procured, a preacher 
summoned to appear before them at certain hour and for the regular fee he 
put the legal fixings to them forever and a jiffy. It was indorsed by witnesses 
as a good deed, a mutual covenant, executed to suit said party of first part and 
said party of second part. He hereby severally swears that she is the best 
wife he ever had, and in all controversies they come to agreements without 
protestation and general confusion of chattels, appurtenances and other per- 
sonal property. The bond that guaranteed them for life holds faithfully and 
happily. Mrs. Williams is a most excellent Christian character, and her moth- 
erly love for the heirs. Myrtle, Paul, Nora and an adopted daughter, Ethel, is 
warranted to last until all are exempt from taxes in the land of the living. He 



68 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

solemnly afTirms the foregoing statement to be true to the "rest of his knowl- 
edge and relief." 

Uncle Fife is a Baptist and a Woodman. "Honesty" is his motto, and 
"Reaching for something grand and noble" is his great ambition. Farming 
has been his chief life work, but now is serving the town as Justice with 
popular acclaim and proficiency. He is the jolliest man living, and never 
can you see him when he isn't smiling or indulging in a "By Neds." Fife 
the funnyman, Fife the finished man. 

"I live here because I love the people. I think the town is one of the most 
enterprising in North Mississippi, and people are noted for Christianity and 
hospitality." 

J. A. WILLIAMS 
Merchant. 

Down in Choctaw county, some years ago, a boy was born, and as his 
initials are J. A., we will call him Jimmy. His parents, James K. Polk Wil- 
liams and Susan Fondren Williams, were of Irish and English nationality, 
and native Mississippians. 

In the Chester High School he completed the curriculum with rapidity and 
desired a better education the further he delved into the great minds of the 
world. But a college career was cut short — he having to work on the farm 
and help make bread for the family. Study at home rounded him into a 
man of sound business qualifications and agricultural acumen. Dollars be- 
gan to warm his pockets. 

On October 19, 1893, he was married to Miss Alice Williams, a most indus- 
trious lady of excellent character and remarkable business "gumption." 
Moodie (deceased), and Thelma, were the only children of this happy union. 

Mr. Williams is a Baptist and a Columbia Woodman. His motto is the 
Golden Rule, and his longing ambition is "To be an expert stock raiser and 
farmer." 

"We think Houlka is a nice growing town, and composed principally of 
good, friendly country people, so we live here because we like it." 

In the old Mercantile he and his wife do a thriving trade among the Houlka 
people, for the short time they have been here. Both are known for their 
hustling from morn to night, owning one of the prettiest homes in town, and 
are rapidly becoming two of our foremost citizens. 

WILLIE WALTER WILLIAMS 
Merchant. 

Born to Richard D. and Sarah Thomas W^illiams, in the County of Chick- 
asaw, and in the year 1872, a son, without a name, without hair and without 
speech — but Lord, he could wail, and wail he did. The county had never 
heard such music, and many people came to see the little fellow, who w^as 
finally named Willie Walter, after much pros and cons in the family, in order 
to get wise as to his versatile voice. But after one old lady had planted a lip 
of snuff square on his "yeller" he quit for keeps and began to talk. 

His people were from South Carolina, and came into Mississippi about 
1853. They sent him to the Houston schools and there he acquired a very 
good common school education. At the age of nine he went to work on the 
farm, and has made that occupation his lifetime work, except for last few 
years, he has been engaged in the business of merchandising at Thorn and at 
old Houlka. 

On September 24, 1913, he moved with his family to Houlka and put in 
a stock of goods in the old Griffin store on the corner, being the only mer- 
chant in old Houlka. He finds the business here pleasant and profitable, and 
is making one of our citizens in the happy family of the old town. 

Mr. Williams was married to "the sweetheart of his dreams" on Septem- 
ber 23, 1893, in the estimable person of Miss Mary Lily Kimbrough. Four 



RAD HARRILL REED 69 



children have made this union a happy and contented home — Andy, Etta May, 
Juette and Preston. 

Mr. Williams is a member of the Methodist Church and a Woodman of the 
World. He is a man of sound business principles, and goes about his daily 
work with good will to everybody and a helping hand in times of trouble. 



AMONG THE MISSING. 

After writing up all the Houlka people, or at least all I could think of at 
that time, there comes into being several more prominent men of the town 
who deserve write-ups in this book. It is too late now, and I assure you that 
your life story will appear in "The Houlka Hununer" to be published in the 
very near "immediate." So be "patient," for I'll get you yet. 



70 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 



WHO'S WHO FROM HOULKA 

The plan of the book at the beginning was to inchide only those men and 
boys who left Houlka and made good in other parts of the world. Each day 
brought new thoughts and, instead of a very few, the number increased to 116 
— only 87 answering my letters. So then they are the "Who's Who" from 
Houlka. Those who did not respond are: Sam Abernethy, Walter Aber- 
nethy, Arthur Abernethy, Jasper Abernethy, Lee Andrews, Rice Boyd, Willie 
Frank Brown, Curt Brown, L. A. Fitzpatrick, Ernest Haney, Jim Hamilton, 
Will Harris, Joe Harris, Jack Harris, Archie Hobson, H. H. Isbell, Tom John- 
son, George Johnson, Wiley Marion, Henry Peden, Warren Reid, Jr., W. M., 
O. L., V. L., and J. L. Robinson, H. F. Sanderson, H. E. Savely, Jack Savely, 
Henry Thompson, T. A. Williams, Bob Williams and G. W. GofT. Several 
more are worthy of these pages, but cannot think of them just at the present 
time. There was no intention to leave any one out, and if the above had given 
me an outline of their life, the "write-up" would surely be in the book. Those 
who sent in answers — I thank you. 



THOMAS FRANKLIN ABERNETHY 
Commercial Business Man. 

It was harvest time — old King Cotton glinted white in the fertile fields of 
Pontotoc county and the long rows of corn bristled and crackled in the gentle 
sway of a lazy wind. The autumn sun fell slowly over the rim of the world 
and flickered its daily farewell through the quivering golden leaves of count- 
less trees until it finally blinked into the Hitting shadows of a moonlight night. 
A hush of expectancy filled the air and before the man in the moon could leap 
into the lands of other nations far away, he smiled down upon a new born 
babe. The calendar and Hostetter's Almanac agreed that the date was Oc- 
tober 23, 1872, and his parents, William Larkin and Fannie Savely Abernethy, 
agreed on the name of Thomas Franklin for their first born child. 

Mr, Abernethy's ancestral nationality is of Scotch-Irish extraction — his 
grandparents moving into Mississippi during the early part of the Nineteenth 
Century. 

After attending the public schools of Pontotoc county for several years 
of his boyhood, he spent two sessions in the school at Houlka. Then one 
year at the Mississippi Normal High School at Troy, and the last three ses- 
sions of his schooling were spent in the Mississippi Normal College at Hous- 
ton, where he had conferred upon him the Bachelor of Science Degree. 

August 28, 1895, he was happily married to Miss Minnie Jinkins, a lady 
of tine Christian womanhood and handsome appearance. There are four 
living children — Hosea, Bessie, Gerstle and Gideon, Ben Fulton dying when 
only two months old. 

In the following sentences he tells briefly the story of his life: 

"Though reared on a farm in Pontotoc county, far out in the rural dis- 
tricts and doing all kinds of farm work for several years, I was seized with a 
determination when only a lad to acquire a practical education. By per- 
sistency and continuous effort, though in the face of financial embarrassment, 
my undertaking was accomplished. From a student I became a teacher and 
taught in the public schools of Texas for one year. Returning to Mississippi; 
I taught four years and retired from school work, after conducting a series 
of teachers' institutes in 1898. Since then I have devoted my time to com- 
mercial business, such as traveling salesman, division superintendent of sales- 
men, and sales manager for a Chattanooga corporation. Now at the age of 
forty-one, I am in the prime of life, blessed with health, a good share of this 
world's goods and have an interesting family to love and cheer me to the end." 

"Tom" is a member of the Methodist Church, prominent in the commercial 
life of his home town, Eupora, and highly regarded by everybody as a good. 



RAD HA R RILL REED 71 

safe man. His ambition is "To thoroughly educate his children, mentally 
and morally, and render them useful to humanity." His motto is just what 
he has lived — "Concentration and continuous effort master ditTiculties." 

He is a man who has gained in a small way the higher rungs of the suc- 
cessful ladder; but he never forgets that there are others on the bottom. His 
qualities overshadow his faults, and in times of trouble he can be relied upon 
as a safe fortress of help and sympathy. 

RICHARD McCANE ABERNETHY 
Jeweler and Optometrist. 

"Mack" Abernethy, known to the Houlka people as our one-time post- 
master, and a true, moral young man, was born near Red Land, being one 
of the eldest sons of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Abernethy. His schooling was ob- 
tained at Houston and at Eupora, and from there he went to Okolona to begin 
his first work for a firm of that town. 

Then in 1904, he was married to the beautiful and accomplished Miss 
Claudia Sleuman. Only one child, Donald Abernethy, blesses the home of 
this happy pair. 

Mr. Abernethy is a member of the Methodist Church, I. O. H., and Jr. O. U. 
A. M. He is also member of the Board of Stewards and one of the Trustees. 

After leaving Houlka, he finally established a jewelry business in Moores- 
ville, N. C, where he is still located and doing a good trade among the good 
people of that section. He is the watch inspector for the Southern Railway 
and along with his jewelry work he does much optometrical business on the 
"weeps" of the townsmen. He "fits 'um, fixes 'um, makes 'um see." There- 
fore he keeps a watchful eye on his business, thereby making things tick his 
way to the dot. Deals in no second-hand stuff, on the job to the minute, and 
never runs down. 

His motto is good and runs this wise : "Persistency always — there is noth- 
ing that persistent, patient, intelligent effort cannot overcome. The story of 
the world's success lies in the willingness of the individuals to stick to 
what they started to do, no matter how high, how steep or broad the moun- 
tain may be. Gladstone, Bismarck and Edison and numbers of others held 
to their purposes through every kind of defeat. They were persistent in 
their faith and to each man came his great reward. My ambition is above all 
to base my actions upon the principle of Right, preserve my integrity of 
character, and never to engage in any pursuit to which I cannot ask God's 
blessings. To have courage without faltering, to do what you do not like to 
do, but to do what you ought to do, and to ever keep in mind that all our 
efforts are not to be crowned with immediate success." 



ELDRIDGE GATES ABERNETHY 
Watchmaker and Jeweler. 

Crickets were strumming away on the hearth of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. 
Abernethy. The stars twinkled to the tune of the musical spheres and just 
as the last little twinkle twinked into the blinking dawn of November 27, 1886, 
Gates Abernethy was born into the happy land of Pontotoc. 

"I moved to Houlka," saith Gates in his letter, "when I was only six years 
gone. I attended school then until I was eleven and later moved to the farm, 
out in Calhoun, for a six-year period of hard work. Moving back to Houlka 
where my father now lives, I decided to study the art of watchmaking and re- 
pairing, beginning my first work in 1907. I liked the profession and have 
never regretted the step taken at that time, and will continue to make it my 
life work. Since I have been in the business I have made a very good suc- 
cess in my travels up and down the country. I belong to the Baptist Church, 
joining in 1902. My work is now at Kosciusko with Mr. L. S. Smith. Have 
been with him for over one year and am enjoying the work fine. My work 



72 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

seems to give satisfaction to the public and to my employer, so I must say 
that this beats ploughing old Beck by a long shot." 

Gates is known by hundreds of Houlka people as a genuine, moral, trust- 
worthy man, open face, on the watch to help a friend who is run down, works 
60 seconds to the minute and 60 minutes to the hour, day after day, on time 
in every case. He is a 23-jeweled movement, solid gold character, stem- 
winder. When it comes to tinkering, that is, going down into the delicate 
stomach of a watch and performing all kinds of major surgery on their main- 
springs, wheels and cogs, he is some smile. Never goes on strike — ticking 
all the time to the pendulum swing of his mind — forever watchful to keep 
himself wound-up and in good, clean running order. His life has been a 
crj'^stal, clear in its transparency, strong in its make up. Surrounded by 
dozens of chronometers in the name of Hamilton, Howard, Waltham, Elgin, 
South Bend, Illinois, and old Robert H. during the day; he goes to bed with 
the sweet but alarming assurance that truthful Big Ben will lift him from 
his sleep to a silver-plated breakfast when the ancient hour-glass of time runs 
into the dawn of a new day. So with his pliers, pincers, callipers, pins, 
tweezers, lathes, brushes, and all the intricate necessities of the successful 
watch repairer and jeweler placed in neat arrangement around his desk he is 
doing time for the remainder of his seventy-year guarantee. 

There are four other brothers of this big Abernethy family who failed to 
answer my letters. Sam, who is in Texas as a salesman; Walter, who is at 
Durant in the business of watchmaking; Arthur and Jasper, location not 
known, are in the same business as Mack, Walter and Gates. All of them are 
making a success in their profession, and all married but Gates and Jasper. 



JOHN HARRIS ALEXANDER 
Merchant. 

On the 25th of February, 1886, Johnnie Alexander was born into the world 
"a comparatively young man." James Warren Alexander, who came from 
South Carolina when a lad, and Mollie Flanagin Alexander, a native of Mis- 
sissippi, are the parents of this well deserving and enterprising Houlka boy. 

John attended the Houlka schools through nearly all of his 'teens, com- 
pleting most of the prescribed course. On Saturdays, he helped his father 
measure up corn for the local grist mill, handling enough corn during those 
days to make the bins of Josephian Egypt look like a "chigger to an elerfunt," 
or a log cabin to the fifty-five-story Woolworth. If those grains had been 
planted in one row an inch apart it would have reached into the main street 
of Kingdom Come, or "if those grains had been planted and replanted from 
that time until now, its progeny would today be sutTiciently numerous to 
feed the teeming millions of the world." His fame went abroad and the 
natives waxed fat from the "Golden Cream of Kernel Korn." 

It was a habit of the motherly 'possums and coons of the long ago to 
beware their offspring of one Johnnie Alexander. Many were the great hunts 
of this young man when the frost was on the pumpkin and the 'possum on 
the vine. How enthusiastic the chips would fly to the patient yelps of "Old 
English," the best hound dog that ever leaped the hills and valleys of Chicka- 
saw or trailed a 'possum to his den. How numerous were the valuable levi- 
athans of the forests that quivered for a moment and then fell resounding 
mile upon mile to the powerful blows of his faithful axe. What was prettier 
than a midnight chase, nose down, tail erect, through mire and brush, on 
and on, faster and still faster, never tiring until the thrilling race was over 
and the steady "treed" came echoing to excited and eager ears? Those were 
happy times to that boy — days that will never come again; but days that 
will cling to his memory until the race of life is run and he goes to the "happy 
Hunting Grounds" in the beautiful fields and forests of the Celestial King- 
dom. 

One of the great sights of old Houlka was to see John riding his old blind, 
streaked-tail mule, "Tige." He was John's standby, and when the poor old 
fellow was gathered unto his fathers, two big tears trickled sorrowfully 



RAD HARRILL REED 73 

down John's manly cheeks and watered the first crop of alfalfa his face had 
ever grown. 

He was always an active, energetic and muscular boy. Could run faster, 
jump higher, throw farther, hoe more corn, pick more cotton, cut more 
wood and do most any kind of physical exercise better than any other boy 
of his age and size in the vicinity of Houlka. If his could have been a college 
career, no doubt but what he would have won many medals and the coveted 
initials of the school by his athletic prowess. 

When of age, he borrowed some money and went out into the world to 
inake a name for himself. Choosing Tutwiler as a starting point, he began 
work on Charles Scott's big plantation, never losing a minute's time. After 
working there for twenty-one months, he went into other business for a short 
time. Later he established a retail merchandising trade at Lamont, Miss., 
under the firm name of Hilliard & Alexander. There, by the banks of the 
mighty Mississippi, they do a successful business, also handle the U. S. mail 
over the river. 

His ambition is to be a good merchant and land owner; while his motto 
in life is the Golden Rule, with the addition of "Don't bother with any one's 
business but your own," Drawbacks have been his occasionally, but he never 
allows them to form a discouraging line around his will power. He knows 
there is something ahead if he will only stick — and he's sticking; but never 
gets stuck. In this short time he has made many true friends, a good bank 
account and is well on his way to the great goal of earthly success. 

One prominent thing he has done in his life that seems to jump higher 
in the estimation of his friends, is the fact that out of his weekly savings he 
has bought and paid for a neat little cottage in the town of Houlka for his 
mother. 

ANDREW CLEMENT ASTON 
Methodist Minister. 

In an old log house five miles north of Houston and a half mile west of 
the Houlka-Houston public highway, A. C. Aston was born, November 1, 
1886. His father, James Thomas Aston, moved into Mississippi from 
Alabama in 1851 when only four years of age. Eleanor Ann Rhoades Aston, 
his mother, was a native Mississippian. The ancestry of Rev. Aston being of 
sturdy Scotch-Irish stock. 

The record of his school attendance is as follows: Reid school in 1891-92; 
Holliday's, 1892-96; Wesley Chapel, 1896-01; Salona, Texas, 1901-05; Male 
and Female Institute of Chico, Texas, 1905-06; taught school 1906-07; Bache- 
lor of Arts degree from Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, 1907-11; 
Bachelor of Divinity from Vanderbilt, 1911-13. In 1912-13 he was assist- 
ant instructor in the Correspondence School at Cross Plains, Texas. On July 
13, 1913, he entered the ministry with a strong determination to help human- 
ity and follow the teachings of the Blessed Master who went His way doing 
good. 

September 15, 1909, he was married to Miss Minnie Fladger Game, "the 
best wife in the world." They have no children. 

Quoting from his letter: "My ambition is not to make my mark in the 
world; but to make men and let them make their mark. In other words, 
I want to be of service to other men." His motto is "Always be at something 
worth while — never unemployed and never trillingly employed." 

He says further: "I lived on the farm until I was nineteen years old and 
know all of its peculiarities from riding a yearling calf to building houses. 
I know how to pick cotton, saw wood, blacksmith and what it is to have the 
bark peeled from my shins when monkeying with barnyard inhabitants. I 
am now having new experiences and spending much time in riding through 
the mesquite thickets of West Texas ranches." 

Reports from Texas tell of Rev. Aston's popularity as a man and as a true 
and devout minister of the Gospel. He is modest, unassuming, energetic and 
willing to do good all the time he can and in whatever way he can. 



74 H O U L K A YESTERDAY TOD A Y 

He advertises neither his good works nor his attainments — always seek- 
ing to erase the sense of obligation in those whom he assists. Gracious, kind 
and gentle with either those of lowly station or of better fortune and capa- 
bilities, he gives the praise to God and works for His cause with the spiritual 
enthusiasm of the true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Rev. Aston has many friends and relatives in and around Houlka who 
love and respect him for the success he has accomplished and for the real 
worth of the man himself. 



DAVID HOLMES ASTON 
Methodist Minister and College President. 

The Genesis of this man's life was on August 13, 1870, on a little farm in 
Chickasaw county. From that time until he made an Exodus to Texas, his 
Acts were a Revelation to those who had no power of will and to Numbers 
of others who knew he would make his Mark in whatever Job he undertook 
to do. 

From the Reid's school he came to Houlka and studied under Prof. Smith 
until he was able to obtain a first grade license to teach — the little school at 
Reid being his first work as a professor. When twenty-one he moved to 
Texas and for two sessions taught school in one of the growing towns of that 
State; in the meantime was licensed to preach at the age of twenty-two. 
Moving back to Houston, he spent one year in the Mississippi Normal College, 
graduating with B. S. degree. The next session was spent in Millsaps College 
where he took special work in languages. 

May 26, 1896, he married Miss Mattie Maxwell, an excellent and refined 
lady of Popes, Miss., and a classmate of his while in college. Moving to 
Texas he taught one year in a public school and then joined the North Texas 
Conference November 18, 1897. During his first pastorate of two years he 
also served as the Principal of Gibtown Academy. From the very lowest to 
the highest, he has gone through the work of the Divine Master with all the 
zeal and enthusiasm of a true and Godly character. Since his first work he 
has served one circuit, three stations and the Gainsville District of the Con- 
ference. When the great General Conference was held in Asheville, N. C., 
four years ago, he was chosen by his Conference to represent them in this 
assembly. 

Two years ago. Rev. Aston enterprised the founding of Wesley College at 
Greenville, Texas, and was elected the first President. The school is now 
closing its second session of success and looks forward to greater glory in 
the advancement of learning in the Sunny Southland. The property of the 
school is worth $100,000, and that much more is in sight for additional build- 
ings to be erected in the future. 

Since his ministerial work was begun, he has earned an A. M. degree at 
the East Texas Normal College; graduated from the Summer School of The- 
ology in Southwestern University; studied in the University of Temple; grap- 
pled with Hebrew in Vanderbilt, and received the Ph. D. degree from the 
Potomac University. 

On August 18, 1912, his wife died, leaving him two children — four other 
children having gone before. 

During all of his college life. Rev. Aston has worked his way, keeping 
"batch" most of the time to cut expenses. Through it all though he has 
labored faithfully and successfully. He has been the good Samaritan, who, 
seeing his duty, did not pass by on the other side. An earthly minister of 
heavenly happiness is this man, who quietly goes his way doing good. A man 
who moves in love among his flocks and speaks from the abundance of his 
heart the simple salvation of the soul. 

Rev, D, H, Aston is a brother to the man just preceding. 



R A D H A R U I L L R E E D 75 



JAMES EDWARD ATKINSON 
Progressive Farmer and Stock Raiser. 

On September 13, 1876, possibly on Friday, thirteen days after the begin- 
ning of Autumn, thirteen miles from Schooner, thirteen years after the battle 
of Gettysburg, thirteen years before Jefferson Davis died, one hundred and 
thirteen years after the French and Indian War, and just thirteen minutes and 
thirteen seconds after one o'clock, "Ed Atkizzum" \vas born about thirteen 
hundred and thirteen feet from Van Vleet, Mississippi. His parents, John 
Landreth and Mattie Davis Atkinson, were native Mississippians and sturdy 
descendants of English and Irish blood. 

In the schools near his home he received a common school education, 
applying himself to — the rod, with fervent zeal and testimonial enthusiasm. 
During his school life he worked on the farm with his father, making average 
crops every year until he decided to venture into a boat of his own. That was 
on the thirteenth of a certain month and after fixing his tie thirteen times he 
rode thirteen miles to see if he could find some nice lady to help row that 
boat. After thirteen days and after he had tried to ask her thirteen hundred 
and thirteen times to grab an oar on that rocking lifetime canoe, she accepted 
the proposition, and they were married on November 25, 1900, and for over 
thirteen years they have lived happily, cozily, "comfyly." Miss Bertha Mar- 
tin was the most estimable lady in question, and is now the happy mother of 
their children, Ailene, Kenneth and Scottie Sue, 

Mr. Atkinson is a Baptist and a W. O. W. Has a longing ambition to be a 
big stock raiser and scientific farmer. Near Van Vleet he has a fine farm 
and just few weeks ago bought some registered Aberdeen Angus cattle that 
are creating quite a "bunch of talk," and from his beginning it is hoped that 
more will follow in the "likewise." With these he has begun a good fight 
against the coming boll weevil and he wisely asserts that its coming, wilfbe 
a Godsend — to make the people "get busy." 

In '05 he moved to Houlka and begun working for D. H. Hall in the lumber 
business. Working four years for said firm. 

"Ed" is known by everybody and their kin. A gentleman every minute 
and true to his family and friends. 



CHARLES WESLEY BALEY 
Methodist Minister. 

"Wes" Baley, as the old school-day friends called him, sends in the fol- 
lowing sketch of his life: 

"Charles Wesley Baley, Jr., was born February 18, 1881, two miles south- 
west of Houlka. I am of Scotch-Irish descent, my great-grandparents coming 
direct from the old country to South Carolina. My father, James Madison 
Baley, was a native of Mississippi, and my mother, "^Elizabeth Bolding Baley, 
was an Alabamian. 

"I was converted at the early age of seven years and joined the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, at Old Houlka, under the ministry of Rev. J. R. 
Robertson. When about seventeen, I joined the Methodist Free Church, and 
on September 3, 1900, I was licensed to preach by the Springdale District Con- 
ference, at Union Grove Church, in Lafayette county. Exactly one year later, 
I was ordained elder by the same Conference at Jumpers Chapel Church in 
Yalobusha county. Then, on December 3, 1902, I was admitted into the North 
Mississippi Conference of the M. E. Church, South, and was assigned to the 
Cascilla Circuit, Grenada District, Tallahatchie county, remaining there one 
year. Then in the fall of 1903, I was removed to the Slate Springs Circuit, 
Grenada District, Calhoun county. After a year's work at these churches, I 
was appointed to Millsaps College, where T remained as a student for two 
years. Then in December, 1905, I was appointed to the Courtland Circuit, 
Panola county, Sardis District, taking up the work left by Rev. G. W. Gordon. 
December, 1906, I was appointed to the Pleasant Hill Circuit, DeSoto county, 



76 HOULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

Sardis District. Remaining tliere two years, I was sent to the Arkabutla Cir- 
cuit for one year. In December, 1909, I was assigned to the Eureka Circuit 
in Panola county, Sardis District, where I remained for two years. Tlien in 
December, 1911, I was sent to the Kosciusko Circuit of Attala county and 
Durant District. In December, 1912, I was moved to the McCool District. 

"I attended the public schools near my home, the Houlka High School and 
Millsaps College. On May 8, 1907, I was married to Miss Jannie Pearl Wil- 
bourn, of Como, Miss. Four children have been born unto us — Charles Wes- 
ley, Jr., Edward Ward Carmack, Madison Sanford and Jannie Lucille. 

"My ambition is to be the most successful soul winner possible. I am 
a member of the W. O. W. and the T. O. O. O. F." 

Rev. Baley is known in Houlka as a true, genuine Christian man — a man 
who has worked up — always with an eye single to the glory of God. 

JAMES WARSAW BELL 
Educator. 

Professor Bell, known all over Mississippi as one of its best equipped 
educators, has, by dint of unlimited will power, come from almost poverty 
on the little 'Possum Neck farm in the jungles of Owl creek into a position 
of comfort and influential sway over the educational forces of our beloved 
State. 

Copying a line or two from his letter: "I was born in the year 1869, four 
miles east of Red Land on Owl creek. Began my first work as a teacher 
about the first of November, 1887, at Thornton Hill school in Chickasaw 
county. Since that time I have spent my life, with the exception of a few 
months, in teaching and going to school. I was married on the loth day of 
November, 1899, in Water Valley, Mississippi, to Miss Sophia Boyd. I have 
a family of three children, two girls and one boy. I am now Dean of Educa- 
tion in the University of Mississippi and also hold the chair of Economics. 

"It is my ambition to make of the Department of Education a positive, 
living force in the upbuilding of the educational system of the State of Mis- 
sissippi. To this end I earnestly beg the co-operation of all patriotic Missis- 
sippians." 

For many years. Professor Bell w^as the Principal of the Water Valley 
schools, building up a progressive system of school training that was a last- 
ing force in the development of modern education. Hundreds of educable 
boys and girls began their fundamental training for greater usefulness in 
life through the judgment and teaching ability of this genial good man. Pat- 
rons were satisfied; pupils worked hard lessons wdth a will; all had confi- 
dence in his discipline, and his power as a disseminator of high school knowl- 
edge for the preparation of boys and girls for college went out into the system 
of other schools through many of his old-time pupils and through his "pro- 
fessorial" brethren. From there he went to the University of Mississippi and 
began the teaching of Mathematics, he having been a graduate of that insti- 
tution some years before. It has been my pleasure to be under him in the 
study of "Polit," as the fellows term it, or Political Economy, and if a man 
could explain it any better to a class of boys than he, that man is yet to 
"arriv." Making things plain is his supply — many heads demand it. He is 
a man whose utilities for advancement among his classes are potent forces 
in the production of "wealth" for the University. His material resources have 
no competition in the Pedagogical department and the distribution of all this 
educational property is highly productive to the economic progress of our 
great commonwealth. Old Adam Smith and J. S. Mill, great writers of politi- 
cal science, are his constant companions, living with them in the study of 
man's actions, how he gets an income and how he uses it, how the trend of 
governmental machinery goes from the very beginning of sociological devel- 
opment. Peacefully he lives on a small medium of exchange which seems to 
be diminishing returns to his pocketbook; but on the other hand, increasing 
returns to the intellectual progress of Mississippi. Prof. Bell is a Presby- 
terian and a Mason — withal, a man. 



RADHARRILLREED 77 



W. W. BOYD 
Physician and Surgeon. 

On July 15 1853, when the man in the moon was smiling little golden 
gleams of ight mto the nooks and corners of a midnight world, I tiny 
baby boy blmked his first appearance into the home of George Washington 
Hn?1n'''l«^?''"'l S-'^!;?!^"? Bramlett Boyd, sturdy pioneers from South Caro- 
lina in 18o2 and of English-Irish-French nationality. "Wes" Boyd as he is 
known by hundreds of friends and acquaintances all over the cbuntry, was 
this little boy and through all of his life he has shown an indomitable spirit 
of keep-on-keeping-on Today, he is a prominent and successful physician 
and surgeon in the city of West Point, where his work calls him Aight and 
day— going, going all the time— relieving pain and suffering— cheering those 
who are blue-helping the weak as did the lowly Man of Palestine who went 
His way doing good. 

In answer to my letter, he has given a sketch of his life in such good 
torm and words and withal some good thoughts on perseverance, that I 
think It proper to copy verbatim. It is as follows: 

"I was born two and one-half miles southeast of old Houlka. My success 
is not an accident for I was reared in a home that stood rigidly for three 
done^^' "^"^^^- obedience, a complete catalogue of morals and duty well 

"My early education was in an old field log school house established by 
the neighborhood before tree schools were known, and later I was taught 
by Frot. B. t . Ivillpatrick. who was principal of the Houlka High School. 

"At the age of twenty-one. I began a farmer's life, and for two years was 
successful along that line All the time I was anxious to go to college, and 
dreamed of college days during my life on the farm; so that after two years 
f+^"i^*\?*^TT^ realization of my dreams and was able to leave the farin and 
attend the University of Mississippi, where I took a special course until I 
had iinished my Junior year. 

. "} then went to Vanderbilt Medical College, and two years later graduated 
in Medicine. About this time, I was taken violently sick with typhoid fever, 
which kept me down for tour months, finally leaving me penniless and unable 
abouT ^'^ '""^ ^ "^ "^ several months after I was able to be up and 

^oo'TJ^^^i^^^'"^ ^""^ m".*!X^ ,''°^^ to recovery, I came to Oktibbeha county, 
near the place now called Osborn. situated on the I. C. R. R., and began the 
practice ot my chosen profession. I was successful from the verv first, and 
determined to have it said of me that I had lived for great purpose and so 
that my family and friends might be proud of me. 

"By strict economy I began to save money, and two years afterwards, 

1 was happily married to Miss Loula Nance, and in the beginning of our 

married lite we agreed on industry and economy with honor in our new 

Sant? ^^PP^"^^^ ^'^^ our reward with everything running smoothly and 

"In the third year of my practice, a cyclone destroyed everything I had 
accumulated, and I was left to begin again, with my wife, my horse Ind my 
cow. Our generous neighbors come to our rescue and rebuilt for us a little 
cottage in the same spot as the former cozy five-room home. My wife and 
1 soon got busy with work to be done and with the love and help of these 
fuUy to ^he"" futui4 ^^^"^ became a memory, and we were again looking hope- 

"But my days were not destined to remain so pleasant, and I realize that 
f^Jf /f^n "^"^t be dark and dreary and that into my life some rain must 
indeed tall. In less than one year my wife and two of our three children 
were taken trom me. This misfortune came near ruining my life: but when 
1 had time to recover somewhat from this stunning blow, and to think of life 
at all. I realized that it is a stern reality, and I decided to get away from the 

hia?n ^u""^ ^ 'c*" ?' ""^'^ *° *^''^ ^ ^ou^^e of lectures in New Orleans to 

begin lite anew. So the days went by and life again held out some hope to 




Bank of Houlka— O. M. Harrill, President; R. E. Atwell, Cashier. 




Houlka Hardware & Furniture Co. 



RAD HARRILL REED 79 



me, and after two years of lonesomeness, I was married to Miss Katie Cald- 
well, of Milan, Tenn, My home was again a happy one, and some of the old 
ideals began to be realized. Three children were born to us, one son and two 
daughters, and for years the sun of prosperity and happiness shone upon 
me; but this happiness, like that gone before, was doomed, and I suffered 
another sad blow in the death of my last son, who was accidently shot by 
one of his playmates. For a time I was robbed of my energy and health ; but 
Time, the great healer, and the love and affection of my wife and other chil- 
dren have softened my sorrows and I again look out on life with hope and 
pleasure, and can truthfully say that life is indeed worth while. 

"As a physician, I have been devoted to my duty, and have kept abreast 
with the world of medicine. I have contributed largely of my means to the 
poor and suffering without hope or desire of pay. I now enjoy a splendid 
practice in West Point, where I have resided for several years. 

"During the years of my practice, I have been Medical Examiner for six- 
teen leading Life Insurance Companies, and have been local surgeon for two 
Railroad Companies. Besides this, I was County Health Officer in Oktibbeha 
before moving to my present home. 

"I feel that my life has been just a bit unusual, if even for no other reason 
than the following: I never took a drink of whiskey in a saloon, and never 
was drunk; I never chewed tobacco, nor smoked a cigar; I never gambled; 
I never was arrested nor had a case in court; I never placed a mortgage on 
any of my property; I never had a pocketbook; I have been a member of six 
Fraternities, and have been a life-long member of the Methodist Church. 

"In addition to my medical profession, I have been a breeder and raiser 
of fine horses and Jersey cattle, and my pen of chickens are now prize win- 
ners. 

"I was one of the boys who went from Houlka to try to make the world 
better by upright living and to try to raise the standard of citizenship in the 
community in which I lived. 

"Had I the opjiortunities in those days that our boys now enjoy, I think 
my life would have been more successful ; still I'm proud of what opportunity 
I have had, and feel that I must admonish the boys of these golden hours and 
thus equip themselves of the duties and responsibilities of life, and thus en- 
able themselves to be of greater usefulness to their fellow man, to their 
country and to their God. 

"I hope that Heaven will continue to bless me to the end of my life, and 
that the pleasures that are now mine may not be taken from me; but if it 
should be otherwise, and if the clouds again gather about my head, God grant 
me grace to say: 'Thy will be done.' " 

Three children, Hugh Lee, who is a prominent druggist in Kosciusko, 
Sarah Louise and Mary Kathaleen, make the life of the father and mother 
one long period of sublime happiness. Doctor Boyd never forgets that he 
is a gentleman. A man of great moral force and integrity — a bank of credit 
from which we can draw supplies of confidence, counsel, sympathy, help and 
love. 

GEORGE FRANKLIN BOYD 
Great Educator. 

In the year 1865, when the straggling remnants of the most powerful 
machine the world has ever known, had given themselves into the hands of 
overwhelming numbers and left the once beautiful Southland running red 
with blood and smoky ruins — then it was that George Boyd looked out upon 
the poverty-stricken country "for the first time in his life." 

His father and mother, George Washington Boyd and Nancy Caroline 
Bramlett Boyd, were of Scotch-Irish and English ancestral nationality, mov- 
ing from South Carolina in 1851. 

Growing up through the hard times of Reconstruction and Carpet Bag 
days he did not permit himself to think that he had no chance — he made 
the chance with that unconquerable will of "never say die." Trials beset 



80 HOULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

him, but a determination that knew no defeat, carried him first through the 
common schools and then to the well-known luka Normal College. From 
there he went to Dickey's Normal School and thence to the State University, 
where he graduated with honors in June, 1886. For ten years after he en- 
tered city school work and attended the State Normal every summer. There 
he took up every phase of school work, such as Psychology, Pedagogy, 
History of Education and Philosophy of Teaching. During the last twenty 
years Prof. Boyd has made an exhaustive study of every school system of 
the world and many of the belter ones in our own country. Studying them 
in a comparative way he has found much help and inspiration from them 
all. Besides this, he has made a systematic study of the Classics known to 
the six great literary ages. In the meantime, he has been President of a 
Shakespearean Society for twenty years, benefiting himself and many others 
in a logical study of this great author and dramatist. 

Twenty-seven years ago Prof. Boyd began teaching in his native county, 
Chickasaw, at the stupendous salary of $12.40 per month and paying eight 
dollars out of that for board. In his dreams, he became quite a wealthy 
man. On that salary, his "co'tin" days must have been limited to a glass of 
red lemonade and a nickel's worth of striped stick candy. 

For twenty-one years Prof. Boyd has served as Superintendent of the 
Kosciusko schools without a dissenting vote from the trustees — a record that 
no other man holds in the State of Mississippi or possibly in the United 
States. His system of school work has attracted much attention and com- 
ment, not only in Mississippi, but in other states as well. Many educators 
have made a study of his school system and have established it in many 
progressive schools of the South. It is unique, original, successful. He 
knows a good teacher and employs a corps of them for the training of the 
Kosciusko children. Conditions surround him for able and efficient work, 
and he is "on the job" twenty-five hours a day. As he sees it, the work is 
the most inspirational of all human endeavor, reaching those of all classes, 
those who are on the downward road and those who are striving upward. 
In it all, he holds and has held in his grasp, the future of hundreds, and 
the good he has done is making itself known in the lives of many of his 
students. The advice he gives is not mere display nor the thought of "when 
I ope my lips, let no dog bark." It is always for good and the listener profits 
thereby. 

In 1907, his friends persuaded him to run for Superintendent of Education. 
The State election was just thirty-seven days away, but he went into the cam- 
paign with a vim that characterizes his every action. His opponents claimed 
for him only 5,000 votes at the best; but when the ballots were all counted 
he had to his credit 43,004. Considering his formidable opponent and the 
short time he had to stump the State, it was a race never before equalled in 
Mississippi, He carried his native county by six to one, and the two counties 
in which he had taught, by seven to one. In one county, where his opponent 
had been a teacher. Prof. Boyd carried it by a big vote, and tied in a second out 
of three others that his opponent had taught. 

In 1914, Professor Boyd will again be a candidate for the State Superin- 
tendency, and it is very probable that he will be alone in the field. Even 
with a running mate, his friends predict his election by a large majority. 
If elected, Mississippi can look forward to the most up-to-date and progressive 
school system the State has ever known. 

The age demands a ready man — the man with the goods — the man who 
can come across. This then, is his motto: "Be a ready man." He's "there" 
in plain Uncle Sam as it is slung. Every day he has been at his post of duty, 
paying tribute to the wisdom of Thomas Edison and Old Standard Oil way 
into the "wee sma" hours of night-time. 

In the year 1891, he was married to "the best lady in the land," Miss 
Lillian Anthony. Two bright children, Ellen Anthony and George, Jr., are 
the joys of this happy household. 

Professor Boyd is a Methodist, K. of P., W. O. W., and a member of the 
Columbia Woodmen. For twelve years he has been Superintendent of the 



R A D H A R R I L L R E E D 81 



Kosciusko Methodist Sunday school, and for thirteen years president of the 
Board of Stewards. 

His ambition is first to be a worthy and useful citizen, to stand in the 
front ranks of his chosen profession, and be Superintendent of Education 
in his native State. He is certainly the embodiment of the self-made man — 
the progressive man — the Christian man. He has striven — succeeded. Never 
seeking notoriety, he prefers to go the even tenor of his way — trying to do 
good. Quoting: 

"It is what I have tried to do that encourages me." 

JOHN JEHU BOYD 
Traveling Salesman. 

On March 25, 1860, when the winds were blowing the news of an impend- 
ing conflict between the American people, John Boyd was born. The farm 
of his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Boyd, was the place of his 
birth, and there he grew up into his 'teens while working the rich loamy 
lands of the old-time Houlka. 

Copying a few sentences from his letter: "Taught school in Mississippi 
for eight years and then went to West Texas to engage in the cattle business. 
After five years there, began to travel through Oklahoma for a tobacco con- 
cern. Giving up that, began to work for Morris Bros. Granite and Marble 
Works as their traveling salesman. Was in that business for eight years and 
the rest of my life has been spent on the farm. Have been a constant worker 
in the Sunday school and church for thirty years." 

Mr. Boyd is a Methodist and a lay preacher, and belongs to only one fra- 
ternity, the Texas Commercial Union. His motto is a good one, more should 
think about it, too: "Promptness coupled with diligence," while his great 
ambition is, "To live up to the highest type of citizenship for my country and 
to the highest standard of morality for my God." 

On October 16, 1884, he was married to Miss Minnie Smith, a most excel- 
lent and refined young lady of J. J.'s dreams and hopes. Their children, 
seven in number, are Ethel, Earl, Hal, Bernard, Gayle, Karl and Opal. The 
last two in the blessed beyond. 

Tyler, Texas, is his present home, and there he enjoys the high regard and 
personal confidence of all the citizens in the town and surrounding country. 
A man who believes in the rights of others — censuring no man for his opin- 
ions, takes no radical view of universal problems, thinks much, argues little. 
He is modest, unselfish in generosity, efficient, owes no man, respectful to 
everybody and reverent in the sight of God. Houlka people speak of this 
man as a good, genuine gentleman, true to his family and his friends, there- 
fore true to himself and to the Divine Master gone before. 

Mr. Rice Boyd, a brother of the man above, did not answer the letter sent 
him. 

ROBERT EHREN BOYD 
Carpenter. 

Great gusts of an invisible something blew its whistle through the thin, 
long needles of a lonesome pine, and as the mighty oaks on a nearby hill 
swayed in the balmy breezes of a youthful spring, the great god of winds 
gathered in the final blasts of evening and stole silently over the rim of the 
world. Then a gentle zephyr "Marched into the 24th groove" of coining day 
and whispered to anxious friends and loved ones the news of a new-born 
babe just twenty-six years ago. "Born an infant, when quite young," he 
learned early to do some vocal "hiesting" that sounded like a steam calliope 
or a rusty phonograph. It was suggested by a few of his admiring listeners 
to name him "Louder," but a compromise of Robert Ehren was agreed upon 
by his parents, Robert N. and Eliza Naugle Boyd. His ancestry is English, 
Irish and French. 



82 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

Ehren was destined to be a carpenter — always making something and then 
tearing it to pieces. Early he received the diploma of his profession by 
dutiful inattention to a couple of fingers and a half-dozen thumbs when 
hammers and hatchets were in rebounding activity. 

During his boyhood he helped his father make cotton and corn through 
the hot days of summer and in the winter months sought an education in the 
schools of Houlka. Tiring of all this farm and text book monotony, a 
notion struck him — and he's still living, too — a good carpenter he was, and a 
carpenter he would be. 

Ehren began life on a solid foundation — laying his plans and prints in 
the small space of two feet. Year after year the building goes on, adding 
here and there a little touch of progress in the make-up of the man. So 
with two legs as braces or corner posts; a tummy for his trunk, vestibule, 
kitchen, pantry and general store-room, he walled it all in with ribs for 
rafters and a strong backbone for a sill. Then he uses his neck as a main 
passageway to the inner room of his building. His head serves as a steeple 
or a dome, covered thickly with thatch to keep the rain from leaking into 
the chambers of his thoughts. Two arms serve as wings for his home; two ears 
as gable ends and acoustics; two eyes for sleepers and windows; one nose 
as a door knob and double chimney; a mouth for the front door and a 
chin for the porch. The yard roundabout grew up in whiskered shrubbery 
and shavings. Therefore his skin is the weatherboarding and withal a frame 
building of good material, capable to combat the chills of winter and the heat 
of summer. All heart and no sap. Never pines away — will spruce up when 
necessary; never chews gum; once wore hickory shirts; likes maple syrup 
and really is some persimmon. Possibly, if cottonwood go up he might come 
home and farm some more; but, as it is, he prefers to stay at the 'elm and 
carefully guide the old log through the swift-running saws of life's ma- 
chinery. 

On September 5, 1907, Ehren decided to go into the game of hard knocks. 
Had his hair shingled; put on another coat or mantlepiece, and after gath- 
ering up a kit of tools left Houlka to hammer out a living elsewhere. Going 
south he finally worked his way into Texas and on to Temple, where he 
braced up a bit and bolted out to get a corner on a job. He found it and 
ever since he has chiseled and edged his way through quarter-sawed aris- 
tocracy and bay-windowed society to the tune of four plunks per day and the 
satisfaction of his employer. Strips of success are coming his way down on 
the border, and while he is a Woolworth in latitude, there is not a two-by- 
four girder in his whole being, 

Ehren is a "plane" man, all wood and a yard wide, square, level-headed, 
a plumb good 'un. He measures up well with the rest of them as a true 
Christian gentlemanly character. When he learns a thing he nails it down in 
the joints of his upstairs — there to board on when occasion demands. He 
has traveled much into the war districts of Mexico and has seen all the grue- 
some aspects of dead and dying soldiers. It is very interesting to listen when 
he tells of the curious customs of the Mexican people and other little incidents 
of his life since he left Houlka. 

He has been offered a superintendency at ninety chips per month but he 
thinks the responsibility too great as yet, and prefers to keep on working as 
of yore. His rule in life is partly golden: "Do unto others as they do unto 
me." He believes a tub should stand on its own bottom, and that's the life 
he lives. Never ostentatious, reserved always, he lives in happiness with his 
fellowman. 

WILLIAM WALLACE BROWN 
Bookkeeper. 

Long time ago, when all the world was painted in the golden sheen of 
Indian Summer, and the failing leaves were tlitting hither and thither on 
the wings of a gentle noonday wind, Wallace Brown was born, an "infant," 
no more and noless. The little fellow grew, just like others have grown, into 
a laughing, sprightly boy. Then short pants, long pants and then a youth. 



RAD HARRILL REED 83 



Patent leathers came on, a "coming Moses" collar and then a man. He fell 
in love with all the girls just as the others were falling. They all had 
charms — still he is a bachelor; living peacefully that blessed single life so 
much wished for by some who have gone the limit of conjugal contentment. 

His parents, James Felix and Mollie Roberson Brown, both of Irish 
nationality, moved into Mississippi from South Carolina before the struggle 
between the States. 

After finishing the courses given at the Houlka High School, he went to 
the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Starkville, Mississippi. After 
a few months of study at that school, he returned home to help his father 
in a general merchandise store at Old Houlka and later on at New Houlka. 
When not employed in the store he donned a big brim hat, overalls and 
other farming necessities and went into the simple life of tickling old Mother 
Earth. 

From his business as a store-keeper he went to Memphis to study the 
modern methods of commercial activities and bookkeeping. For the last 
few years he has been keeping an excellent set of books for big firms in the 
delta of Arkansas and Mississippi. He is now located at Sunllower, Miss., 
and is bookkeeping for a large business in that place. 

Wallace is member of the church, a Woodman of the World and holds 
one or two life insurance policies in old line companies. His ambition is 
to accumulate property in an honorable way. "A square deal to all" is his 
motto, and he lives up to it faithfully and consistently. Wallace commands a 
good salary for his work, for few men can write a much neater line or keep 
a neater set of books. His work is attractive and that pleases any kind of 
an employer. He enjoys the confidence of all the business men he has been 
associated with and a high regard of scores of friends and acquaintances. 
Wallace is a gentleman of fine character, ready at all times to give a push to 
a good cause. 

THOMAS LEWIS DeLASHMET 
Lumberman. 

Six miles east of Houlka, January 7, 1884, Lewis DeLashmet entered this 
big, bustling world "when quite a young man." His father was Marion 
Bartlett DeLashmet and his mother was Cynthia Elizabeth Montgomery De- 
Lashmet. Both being born in the State of Mississippi and of French and 
Scotch nationality. 

Lewis has attended the Houlka High School, the Prescott School of Mem- 
phis, and the Eastman Business College of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He first 
began work in a Memphis grocery March 1, 1898. Has been doing 
everything from farming to railroading from that time, and now is employed 
by the lumber company of Bexley, Miss. The last fifteen years he has lived in 
nineteen states and part of Canada, drifting back to Ole Miss — the greatest 
State in the Union. 

He is a Baptist, member of the Masonic Lodge and Knights of Pythias. 

His ambition is to make a good living so the other fellow will not have 
to do it for him. He believes in the old motto: "Be honest and treat every 
one as near right as possible." Lewis frankly says this, a thought that very 
few ever think of or openly admit : "I haven't a very good education and 
I suppose some people would say that I never had a chance. That is not so. 
I used to sav that for an excuse but I know better now. I could have made 
the chance IF I HAD HAD THE WILL." 

Lewis has looked the world squarely in the face and he owes no man 
anything but to love him. Traveling about as he has, it has caused him to 
look upon life with a broader vision, and the things he has learned knock- 
ing up against the world aids him to take whatever comes, with perfect con- 
tentment and satisfaction. A young man of splendid natural ability and 
sterling manhood. Wears a pleasant smile, jolly in conversation and loyal 
to his friends, is Thomas Lewis DeLashmet. 



84 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

CLAUDE VERNON GREEN 

Furniture Dealer. 

When the golden leaves of the trees were swaying a last farewell in the 
balmy glories of an autumnal day and were beginning to loose themselves 
to the mercy of the whistling winds, then, just as good old summer reeled 
into the realm of her sisters to be forever lost in the dimness of the long, long 
ago, Claude Vernon Green was born into a big happy world — September 
23, 1881. His parents, William Joshua and Mary E. Kirby Green, who lived 
west of Houlka at that time, are of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and both of Missis- 
sippi birth. 

Vernon's first schooling was at Houlka. At the age of 17 he entered the 
preparatory department of the A. & M. College. For three years he went 
through the grind of class work and study, and when in the Sophomore year, 
he left of his own accord to engage in the carpenter trade at Bessemer, Ala. 
While doing some work on a scaffold, he fell and received a serious injury. 
The doctors found it to be a broken vertebra and after recovering sufficiently, 
from a long period of intense suffering, to travel, he came back to Houlka 
and to friends. 

After a few months, Vernon and his father established a general merchan- 
dise business on the southeast corner lot of the old Abernethy grove and im- 
mediately gained their share of the country trade. 

On May 1, 1904, he was married to the sweetheart of his dreams, Miss 
Mabel L. Peden, the most estimable daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Peden, 
formerly of Houlka, but now of Memphis. Gladys, eight years of age, and 
Claude V., Jr., one year old, are their living children. Marven, the second 
child, died when only nine months old while being carried to Memphis on 
the Frisco train for a serious operation. 

The mercantile business of father and son was sold to J. F. Haney, and 
Vernon then engaged in farming and carpentering until April 1, 1907, when 
he began work under the civil service commission as rural letter carrier for 
U. S. A. He was the first man to carry mail in this style on the first rural 
route Houlka ever had. He continued this along with farming until Decem- 
ber 1, 1912, when he resigned to move to Memphis. He is now engaged in 
the furniture and hardware business at 294 Chelsea avenue. There, he is 
making new friends and building up a nice little trade, good will and con- 
fidence. 

Vernon is a member of the Baptist Church, a Mason and a Woodman. 
Before moving to Memphis he served the Woodmen as Clerk for several years 
faithfully and faultlessly. 

Quoting: "My ambition is to accumulate just enough to live at ease in 
old age and to leave my family well provided for at death. Then my motto 
is: 'Do unto others as I wish to be done by,' with 'equal rights to all and 
special privileges to none.' " 

Further on he says: "Born and reared in poverty but grew up in better 
circumstances and have a vision of luxury in less than a hundred years from 
now. Always worked hard on the farm — when father was roundabout. A 
lover of fishing, hunting and athletics. Am a splendid shot, but not much 
of a 'hitter.' Am a great lover of the bright side of life; but at the same 
time know how to sympathize with the unfortunate. A cloud has never been 
too thick but that later on it could be pierced by the sun. 'Those who spread 
sunshine cannot keep it from themselves.' My financial career might be con- 
sidered by others of small event, but not by me. I consider I'm worth mil- 
lions in one sense of the word — my greatest assets being my family and my 
friends, which money alone cannot buy. I do not seek fame, notoriety or 
publicity; but desire to live at peace with God and man and do what little I 
can, in an humble way, to make the country in which I live better to some 
extent by my having lived in it." 

In all of his dealings, \'^ernon is the accommodating gentleman. A man 
to be trusted with either small or large things, both being as secure with 
him as the secret of the Sphinx. He recognizes the right of every man to his 



RAD HARR ILL REED 85 



sincere beliefs and he obtrudes neither his religion nor his politics; but goes 
content with the world as it is and thankful for what he owes it and not what 
it owes him. He is Johnny on the spot at all times to help in a good cause, 
either by personal assistance or indirect giving. A man with a heart as big 
and kind as ever pumped a gallon of red blood is the Houlka boy who made 
good at home and is making good in "furrin Memfuss." 

ELIAS KILGORE GUINN 
Physician and Surgeon. 

The subject of this sketch was born August 15, 1880, in the town of Van 
Vleet. His parents, Jesse Lee and Fannie Ulmer Guinn, were of Scotch-Irish 
descent and native Mississippians. 

Elias obtained a thorough education through many ups and downs in his 
college career. Beginning first with the Rhodes School at Asbury, he kept 
on through the schools of Center Hill and Friendship, Ridgeway or Marion 
school, Houlka High School, Maben High School, University of Mississippi 
and Vanderbilt. He has diplomas from the last three. 

He began work at McCondy in June, 1909, equipped with a small medicine 
pocket case, one red mule with blind bridle and ropes for reins. His first 
call was on the 13th of June, 1909. An old man, a Mr. Martin, summoned 
Elias, the trembling young doctor, to diagnose his case. Dr. Guinn imme- 
diately found, through a series of thumps, that the old man was suffering 
with a "parabola in his concave cosmopolitan" and needed a doctor just like 
Elias to conclude the intervening space between the sick man and the pearly 
portals of Paradise. To the surprise of the doctor and the old fellow him- 
self, "both" are still living. 

After practicing medicine for nearly three years among the good people of 
McCondy and vicinity, he decided to marry a wife — really needed some nice 
girl to answer his telephone calls, fix his tie, cook his dinner and otherwise 
patch his increasing pile of holy sox. The happy event occurred on April 
16, 1912, and the lady who fills the position to his entire satisfaction was Miss 
Mary Conner, a beautiful young lady of Okolona, Miss. Her splendid charac- 
ter blends into the happy life of this' good doctor and goes to make their home 
an ideal of love and Christian fellowship. One child, Jesse Conner, was born 
on June 14, 1913, but died on October 27, 1913, after a continued illness of 
several weeks. 

Doctor Guinn is a Methodist, a Mason, Woodman of the World, and also 
belongs to the Kappa Psi fraternity of the Vanderbilt University. His ambi- 
tion is to "become a successful physician, to promote the cause of Christianity 
in our community and in foreign fields." He lives this motto faithfully and 
truthfully: "To do all the good I can to as many people as I can." 

In battling against adversity on every side during his preparation for the 
medical profession and coming through it all with clean hands and a clear 
conscience. Dr. Guinn deserves much credit and praise. Everybody knows 
him to be a true gentleman, seeking an honest living among his fellow men. 
He has striven and has succeeded — his record is without blemish — his life 
without stain. 

JESSE MARK GUINN 
Methodist Minister. 

Mark Guinn, brother of the man just preceding, was born on August 27, 
1882. And when he was come into this land of milk and honey, there arose 
a great wail, yea, even a loud voice. The people marveled and grew sore 
afraid lest he yell himself unto death. But it came to pass that he only wailed 
for wisdom, like unto that of the wise Solomon, yea even unto the wisdom 
of David and Paul. He grew and waxed strong in the ways of the Divine 
Master. 

After studying a few years in the schools of his home county, he went to 
the Millsaps College for a Preparatory Course of two years, and then four 



86 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 



years of Academic work in the same school, graduating with honors on June 
9, 1910. Tlien on July 30, 1910, he began his ministerial work at Shuqualak, 
Miss., filling a vacancy caused by the death of Rev. Oats. 

Mark joined the Methodists when quite young, and through his prepara- 
tion for the gospel work, his great ambition has been, "To be efTicient as a 
servant of my Master for men," while his motto is, "Live each day so that 
others can co-operate with me as I strive for the realization of this holy 
purpose." 

Besides his days of schooling, Mark did much work on the farm and in 
the profession of carpentering. When the town was on a boom between '05 
and '08, he did much of this work with his two older brothers. 

From his letter I gather many little incidents of his life that are amusing 
to all those who know Mark as an unpretentious, modest young man. No 
exciting events characterize his life thus far, except his first sermon, and 
that was "the longest and about the blankest period of his whole existence." 
On one occasion, the pastor of the Doodleville Church in South Jackson was 
absent and Mark was asked to fill the place. He calmly admits that he dis- 
played more awkwardness than intelligence, but finally finished the awful 
moments with thanks unto his Maker for bearing with him that long. Just 
as he took his text, an old man on the front pew dropped peacefully into the 
arms of Morpheus. Mark does not know to this day what followed — neither 
does his congregation — or at least he feels that way about it. When the audi- 
ence rose for the last song, the sleeping man blinked into a knowledge that 
the fireworks were over and after about two stanzas of the song was sung he 
had shutTled himself to a standing position and with mouth wide open looked 
at the trembling Mark as if he wanted to take him in, Bible, pulpit and all. 
Mark declares tliat if he did, part of the chancel rail would go with him. The 
congregation was dismissed and the sleepy man walked up to Mark and with 
a hearty grasp of the hand exclaimed: "I certainly enjoyed your sermon." 
With a smile, Mark thanked him and really wanted to say "that it must have 
been indeed soothing." As Mark says, "His unfortunate remark has been of 
vast importance to me, in that it impressed me with the everlasting fact that 
everyone who attempts to compliment in this way must not be taken seri- 
ously." 

As a child, Mark enjoyed the fun of making wagons, then hitching them 
to the tails of tom cats at the top of stairs and let them lickety split down 
into the living rooms below. Then during his young manhood he cultivated 
the disposition of disappearing down into the green pastures and by the still 
waters when any of the fair sex visited his mother's home. He admits now 
that his attitude has changed to more of a friendly feeling toward them, but 
now they seem to have adopted his former disposition and make themselves 
very much absent when he is about to be present. 

Rev. J. M. Guinn is now the pastor of the Crawford, Miss., Methodist 
Church, and does other work among the churches around the neighborhood. 
He enjoys the high regard of all the people who know him, and lives in happy 
accord with the world as a thing that owes not him a living, but he owes it 
the best in him. 

At the last he says: "I am persuaded that a young man who has goocl 
health can do whatever he wants to do. We are what we are as a matter of 
choice. The fixing of a man's ideal to a large extent determines what his 
life shall become as well as what his destiny shall be. Our Creator has 
pledged His support to any one who honestly and faithfully pursues a high 
and Holy purpose — therefore he cannot fail." 

JAMES HAMPTON GULLEDGE 
Furniture Dealer. 

Hamp, as all the Houlka people know him, was born December 2, 1869, 
at Big Creek, Calhoun county, Mississippi. His father, Stephen Huntley 
Gulledge, was a native of North Carolina and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His 
mother, Mary Caroline Hancock Gulledge, was a direct descendant of the old 



RAD HARRILL REED 87 



Hancock family of Revolutionary War fame. Hamp's father and mother 
lived in the little village of Big Creek for a few years before the Civil War to 
1890, when they moved to a small farm west of Houlka. He attended only 
the public schools of Calhoun county and applied himself to every task with 
diligence and vim. 

From the first of 1894 to early 1897, he was employed as traveling rep- 
resentative of the National Installment Co. in Central and South Mississippi, 
From '97 to '98 he conducted a general merchandise business at Houston for 
L. O. Towery of Houlka. In November, '98, he went to Jackson, Tenn., and 
engaged in the retail furniture trade. He is the junior member of the Kirby 
& Gulledge firm. 

Mr. Gulledge was married to the estimable Miss Annie Elizabeth McFar- 
land, of Water Valley, June 26, 1902. She died after the short married life of 
two years on December 22, 1904. Only one son came to brighten this family, 
Stephen Hampton — a chip from the old block, a bright little fellow of ten, in 
the sixth grade, and a crack shot with any kind of a gun. On December 25, 
1906, Mr. Gulledge married Miss Constance Marie Goodwin, of Jackson, Tenn., 
a lady of rare intellect and fine character. 

"Hamp" is a member of the first Baptist Church of Jackson; member 
Launcelot Lodge Knights of Pythias; Tecumseh Tribe, No. 59, Improved Order 
of Red Men; Madison Court, No. 27, Tribe of Ben Hur — all of his home town. 
He is a Past Chancellor and Past Grand Representative in the order K. of P. 
At present he is District Deputy Grand Chancellor for Western Division of 
Tennessee. In the order of Red Men he is the present Representative from 
Tennessee to the national body known as the Great Council of the United 
States. In both of these orders he enjoys a state-wide reputation as a ritualist 
and lodge worker. For three years he has served in the National Guard of 
Tennessee as Lieutenant of Company D, Second Infantry. Also four years 
as Adjutant General in Tennessee Brigade Uniform Rank K. of P., with rank 
of Colonel. For one year he has been Adjutant General of the Tennessee 
Division United Sons of Confederate Veterans. 

His ambition is not political, not to gain wealth or win fame and dis- 
tinction among men; but to do all the good he can, whatever way he can, 
as long as he ever can, and looking always to a better life beyond. "Unselfish 
devotion to the right" is his motto, and his friends and acquaintances know 
this to be a true characteristic of our noble, energetic and Christian gentle- 
man, J. H. Gulledge. His wife thinks that his ambition is to catch a two- 
hundred-pound catfish and kill three hundred squirrels in one day. He is an 
enthusiastic sportsman and can measure up well with any of the wing shots 
of Tennessee. His vacations are spent almost entirely with rod and gun, and 
he never fails to bring back trophies of a great hunt — even if he has to buy 
them at the market on the way home. 



GEORGE HARRIS. 
Farmer and Stock Man. 

It was on May 3, 1859, when the Old South was hovering on the brink 
of an impending struggle between brother and brother, that George Harris 
was born. 

Coming up as he did through the turmoil and strife of a regretful war, 
his educational advantages were unhappily limited. His schooling was never 
more than three months in the year in a little log house near his home, taught 
by Miss Hattie McJunkin. 

When he was past his 'teens, Mr. Harris moved from Houlka to Alabama 
with his brother and engaged in farm work for five long years. During his 
farm life he met Miss Maggie Lucas at a moonlight picnic — a beautiful young 
lady of very rare womanhood, and immediately "fell." She afterwards be- 
came his happy wife and the loyal mother of two girls and two boys, who 
make for their parents the roundest little circle of happiness that any mother 
and father could wish for. The girls, Marion and Madge, have finished the 



H O U L K A YESTERDAY TODAY 



Tuscumbia High School, and the boys, George and Robert, are working to that 
end with much zeal and enthusiasm. 

Both husband and wife and all four children are members of the Methodist 
Church — telling to the world their mutual adherence to the teachings of the 
Blessed Master and the correct method of government in the home. 

His fond ambition is to own a well watered, well stocked stock farm and 
be out of debt. His motto is a change of the famous Hamlet soliloquy to a 
crisp sentence that Mr. Harris lives up to three hundred and sixty-seven days 
in the year: "To be, not seem to be." 

Houlka people know him as a true Christian gentleman, ever ready to 
make good any promise, and always loyal and helpful to his friends and 
loved ones. A man worthy of any trust, be it large or small, and a man who 
can keep a secret and not keep it going. Houlka is proud of all her sons, 
and George Harris gets his share of the motherly love that Houlka has for 
the big family she so carefully "raised" and sent out into the wonderful 
world to become important pegs in the religious and commercial affairs of 
town, county, state and nation. 

JAMES F. M. HARRIS 
Merchant. 

The subject of this sketch was born August 6, 1854, one mile south of 
Houlka at the old Isbell place. His father, Frances Marion Harris, of North 
Carolina, moved into Mississippi at the age of 18. His mother, Susan Isbell 
Harris, came to Mississippi from Isbell, Alabama, when a young girl. His 
grandparents of Virginia and Alabama settled in this country long before the 
Indians left for more seclusive territory. 

Most of his schooling was at Houlka under Misses Anna and Sallie Hodges 
and Hattie McJunkin, Messrs. Fitzpatrick and Gladney. Being of school age 
just at the time of the civil war he was deprived of the education so eagerly 
wished for. 

In 1878, Mr. Harris left Houlka for Alabama. In 1883, he was married to 
Miss Mollie V. Robinson, a highly respected and accomplished lady of Rus- 
sellville, Alabama. Moving from his farm near Dickson to Tuscumbia in 
1889, he began a fairly successful mercantile business. Three years later his 
wife died, leaving no living children. Then, in May, 1894, he married Miss 
Sallie Thomas, formerly of Trinity, but later of Decatur, Ala. She is a lady 
of very fine character and is the proud mother of two children, Mary Cooper 
and Susie Elizabeth, fifteen and thirteen years of age, who help make the home 
an ideal of happiness. 

Mr. Harris is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, a member of the Golden 
Cross and Fraternal Union Insurance Companies, and also carries policies 
in two old line institutions. He is still selling goods and by strict attention 
to business detail has acquired considerable property. He lives comfortably, 
cheerfully and contentedly in a neat little cottage in the thriving town of 
Tuscumbia. Commands the respect of all who know him. A fair man — a 
good man — easy, quiet, good-natured. Many of his old Houlka friends speak 
of him as a most worthy gentleman and a friend indeed in time of need. 
He obtrudes neither his religion nor his politics — recognizing the right of 
every man to his sincere belief. 

AARON HARRIS 
Merchant. 

"A." Harris, as all the Houlka people know him, was born in this little 
village back in the days of strife and unsettled feeling between the North 
and South. Being the son of Francis H. and Susan Isbell Harris, and one 
of the elder brothers of this large family, he had to work from the very be-, 
ginning of his boydom on the farm. Farming in those days was cumber- 
some and he experienced all the trials and hard knocks so much in the way 
of the young men in that time. Still he persevered and gained an average 



R A D H A R R I L L R E E D 89 



education in the little Houlka school, going from this to the University of 
Mississippi. 

In the year 1890, Mr, Harris moved to Tuscumbia, Alabama, and estab- 
lished a mercantile business in the suburbs of the town. Besides this, he 
runs a large farm which nets him quite a considerable income in rentals. 

His fust wife was Miss Leonora Isbell, an excellent Christian character, 
and the mother of Mrs. Sallie Sue Harris Baskin. Some years after she died, 
he was married to Miss Allie Baskin, a popular young lady of old Houlka, 
and a lady of splendid character and refined womanhood. Three children, 
William Baskin, Missouri Elizabeth and Zura Griffin Harris, only the latter 
who is living, have come into the home of this devoted couple. 

Mr. Harris is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in his home 
town and lives loyally in its doctrines and its teachings. In the commercial 
life of the town, he holds the high esteem and good will of all the people in 
and around the Tuscumbia limits. Lives comfortable in a "comfy cozy" home 
and aspires to accumulate a nice little nest egg for a rainy day. 

Will Harris, a brother to the man above, and who is a farmer in Russell- 
ville, Ala., failed to answer, 

JOHN A. HARRIS 
Physician and Surgeon. 

The bloom of springtime had covered the earth with all the glories of a 
Master's brush. Roses and posies burst forth into the tingling dawn of a 
new day. Woodland warblers warbled wonderful little melodies of happi- 
ness as they flitted hither and thither in the beaming light of the morning. 
What a beautiful day to be born, and so it was that on May 27, 1873, John A, 
was brought happily into the home of James May H, and Mattie Griffin Harris 
as their first-born child. 

Coming from a sturdy tribe of English-Irish-Scotch people, who moved 
into Mississippi in the pioneering days of '47 and '48, John A. has blended 
into his character the true assets of a genuine Southern gentleman. 

The farm was his first step to a life of greater usefulness, for from early 
boyhood he dreamed of a life in the unlimited fields of medicine. A desire 
to relieve the sick and the suffering, to help humanity, no matter what the 
gain, only that he might live and by so doing, let others live. So he labored 
steadily on the farm over on Owl creek, six miles east of old Houlka, and 
in the meantime went to the common schools of the county. Later he began 
the real study of his medical profession in the University of Nashville, Tenn., 
and now the University of Tennessee. In 1904, he was graduated with honors 
from that institution and immediately began the practice of medicine at the 
little town of Rome, Mississippi, After two years he changed his location to 
that of Webb, Miss., a larger town and better practice. There he runs a drug 
store along with an extensive practice among the Delta people, doing planta- 
tion work as a specialty. From all reports of his work there, he is accom- 
plishing far beyond the average, his dreams of the long ago. He claims, 
though, he's "barely living, that's all." That may be true for he has an "auto- 
go" that bears out the old proverb with a slight change, "Fords rush in where 
others fear to tread." 

April 16, 1905, Doctor John A. Harris was married to Miss Mattie Aber- 
nathy, a lady who, through her excellent womanhood and refined tastes, has 
made for him a home of ideal happiness and love. 

Doctor Harris is a Baptist, a Mason and a Woodman of the World. Lives 
up to their teachings with zeal and enthusiasm — ready to assist in any plan 
toward the future betterment of the homeland. His motto rings true of the 
man: "To live a just and upright life." At all times he wears a good-will 
face, unchilled by aloofness and unpleasantries; cures criticism by commen- 
dation powders, relieves discouraged people with pills of hope and love. Trav- 
eling night and day in his visits to the sick, he runs across many curious 
cases of "gastronomical gumbago of the Aurora Borealis, dozens of fricasseed 
profundities and fungus constitutions, ad nauseam memorandum." Like the 



90 HOULKA YESTERDAY' TODAY 

country doctor who treats a case of "archipelago here, tumlumitis yonder and 
a carbureter" at some other place, finds his calling very much overburdened 
with variety. Still he can whack out a man's "lappatubby or liis lapsus latis- 
simus in the twink of a blink and then have time to amputate his postmortem 
convictions." 

During the year 1913 he studied tropical medicine and other diseases rela- 
tive to a low country in the Tulane College of New Orleans, equipping him- 
self to combat the ravages of fever and malaria in and about his delta home. 

Dr. Harris was recently chosen as President of Six-County Medical Asso- 
ciation. 

WILLIAM ROBIN HARRIS 
Physician and Surgeon. 

The shismatic tints of a rounding rainbow had colored the heavens into 
the mysterious glories of wonderful nature. Pots of gold were hanging at 
each end, waiting for some adventurer to seek and find. Then, just as the 
semi-circle was fading into the dim twilight of June 13, 1886, Robin Harris, 
the tiny gift of the faithful old myth, the stork, was gently placed into the 
arms of the Harris household for keeps. Born near Shiloh church, when the 
country was thinly settled, he roamed the woods and creeks to his only-own- 
some content, fought imaginary foes with all the vim and vigor of imaginative 
boydom, caught, shot and grappled with monsters of the forests with all the 
enthusiasm of a mighty hunter and woodsman. Went to school in the "in- 
terim," or at least went to Shiloh for four or five years and then to the Houlka 
school until he was sixteen. 

After a little while he entered the A. & M. College, working through the 
Prep., Freshman and Sophomore classes. One year he was out of school, 
doing drug store work at Webb, Miss. From this he began the study of his 
longed-for profession, in tlie Vanderbilt Medical Department. For four years 
he worthed and worked hard. Graduated in 1911 with honors and was secre- 
tary-treasurer of his class. Was also during the year 1911, the Presiding 
Senior of Phi Chi Fraternity. Immediately he went to work in the New York 
Hospital and for eighteen months did all kinds of surgery and microscopic 
research. He has a diploma from the Willard-Parker Hospital of New York 
City and also of the St. John's Riverside Hospital, Yonkers-on-the-Hudson. 
In the exam, of the King's County Hosi)ital of Brooklyn, he came ont in the 
eighth place among many contestants from all over America. Then in 1913, 
he was third in the exam, before the Mississippi State Board, the two men 
ahead being Founder's Medal men of Vanderbilt and Tulane respectively. 

While living in the North he was "able" to see the Athletics and the Red 
Sox win the World's Championships from the New York Giants, much to 
his complete and also reasonable satisfaction. He is an enthusiastic sports- 
man and sometimes loses a "pack of cheroots" on the swatting prowess of 
Joe Jackson versus Ty Cobb. Cross your heart, he's some baseball himself. 
Many times has his bat and glove settled either the Houlka or Webb cham- 
pionship, one way or the other! 

In 1904, he was happily among the number of picked rifles who went to the 
"worldy fair" in St. Louis. He admits that he had a great time and was much 
more verdant in those days than he could ever think of being again. 

Robin is not married, but he came within an inch of his life. The girl 
gave him the "G. B." or get the hike out of here, and he calmly murmurs that 
he lost at least $300,000 when she did it. "O, cruel woild !" He is not despair- 
ing, though, by any means — somebody is w^aiting for him to diagnose his case 
- — some girl needs just such a husband as Doctor Robin, and really his ambi- 
tion is to get a good-looking, slight, slim, tall, brown-eyed, brown-haired, 
sweet, accomplished American girl for a wife. Then he wants to make a few 
shekels, get out of debt, attain somewhat of a name among the members of 
his profession and live in much comfort and some snatches of luxury the 
rest of his allotted time. His motto is "Never do today what you can put ofT 
until tomorrow — then tomorrow, do it now." 



RAD HAHRILL REED 91 



On September 20, 1913, he began the practice of medicine at Swan Lake, 
United States of Mississippi, in the Delta. Started out with a Ford splitter, 
a Tennessee thoroughbred saddler, several thousand bones ancf a few beans in 
debt and a pleasant smile. The prognosis of his case will be success, as he 
vesicates the atmosphere with his auto up and down the heterogeneous by- 
ways of the sick and sickly, focusing his bacteriological ophthalmic weeps on 
the maladies, symptoms and counter-symptoms of the "down-and-outers" 
when he makes his palliative visits, therapeutically, day and night. Robin is 
making good and is always the true Southern gentleman. 

WILLIAM SAMUEL HOBSON 
Building Contractor. 

Mr. Hobson, our old-time genial friend and inventor, sends the following 
sketch of his life. With slight abridgments it runneth in this wise: 

"Wm. S. Hobson was born February 2, 1848, in what was then Union Dis- 
trict, South Carolina, and is the oldest son and second child of Frank and 
Margaret Hobson. F^rank Hobson was the youngest child and son of William 
Hobson, and he the son of Capt. Nicholas Hobson, who was a captain in the 
Revolutionary War. Mv mother was Margaret Beaty, daughter of Col. Samuel 
Beaty, of Union, S. C, and he the son of Capt. Robert Beaty, of the 1776-83 war 
with the mother country. 

"I continued to live on the farm until 1876, in the meantime going to the 
small schools until '63. In November, '63, at Charleston, I joined the third 
South Carolina Reserves under Gen. Beauregard, being only fifteen years and 
nine months old. After this regiment was disbanded, I joined the Fourth 
Regiment of State Troops and was on duty most of the time until February, 
1865. When Charleston fell to the enemy on February 15, 1865, we were 
ordered North and joined the army of Johnston. After joining this Regiment 
in '64, I was appointed Sergeant in my company. In November, '64, I was 
chosen as Urst Lieutenant in the place of another man who was disabled, and 
served until January, '65. When my Captain was elected Major of the Regi- 
ment I was promoted to the Captaincy and held that rank until the close of 
the war. On the 28th of April, 1865, I was honorably discharged from service 
and was at that time seventeen years and three months old. 

"After the war I attended one session at the Union Male Academy, but as 
my father had lost everything in the war, I was forced to give up my educa- 
tion of the book kind and work on the farm for a living. In 1876 I moved to 
Friars Point, Miss., and two weeks after landing there I began teaching 
school ten miles south. In October of same year, I went to Okolona and 
weighed cotton for Capt. Stovall. Then in the latter part of December, same 
year, I moved to Tate county and farmed and taught until 1882, when I moved 
to Pontotoc with my family. Living there two years I moved to Houlka in 
1884 and lived there nearly sixteen years. During my life there I farmed, 
worked at carpenter trade and served part of a term and one full term as 
Mayor of Houlka. 

"In 1899 I moved to Aberdeen and worked altogether as house builder. 
After making Aberdeen my home for several years, my wife died in 1905. All 
of my children are married except the youngest. From there I worked 
from place to place and finally settled at Water Valley as a building con- 
tractor. 

"Before leaving South Carolina, I was married to Emma Susan Thomas, 
and eight children were born to us, viz: Margaret Beaty, Mary Kelly, Alice, 
Fannie, Janie, Esma and Annie; the only son being William Francis. All are 
living except Mary, who died just as she was grown to womanhood. 

"I joined the Presbyterian Church while at Houlka. My ambition is to 
live an honest, upright, truthful life so as not to dread death when it comes 
and try to be of some benefit in the world to my fellow-man. My motto: 
"Do all the good you can, and as little harm as possible; allowing every man 
his opinion the same as yourself. But allow no man to abuse you unneces- 
sarily and defending the weaker always against the brutality of the strong." 



92 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 

Mr. Hobson is remembered as a genuine good man, true to his family and 
his friends. But for the wherewithal, he would today be famous as the in- 
ventor of the car coupler. The man Westinghouse who had the backing to 
put it through the tests and the Patent Office was just a bit ahead of Mr. 
Hobson. Nevertheless, he saw its great usefulness and studied it out without 
knowledge of the lucky man whose name today is on every car in the United 
States and the ow^ner of millions as a result of his invention. Mr. Hobson 
invented other devices; but failed to get them through very successfully. 
Generally, as in his case, the inventor loses more than he makes — the other 
tricky fellow grabs it all. Many men are like Mr. Hobson, whose inventions, 
sometimes later on, revolutionize the systems of great railroads, steamships 
and thousands of other modern methods of travel and labor saving patents. 
He deserves much credit for his skill along this line of endeavor. Withal he 
is a pleasant, modest and gentle-man. 

WILLIAM FRANCIS HOBSON 
Illinois Central Railway Engineer. 

Will Hobson, son of the man preceding, first saw the light in Tate county 
June 10, 1878, Quoting from his letter: 

"I moved with my father to Pontotoc and thence to Houlka. From '8-t to 
'98 with the exception of one year, I went to the Houlka school. Then in 
'98 I left Houlka for Edna, Texas, it being a little town in Jackson county, 
near the Gulf of Mexico. There I saw many wonderful wild animals, such 
as wildcats, panthers, Mexican lions, alligators, wolves and catamounts. 
Staying there until 1900. I left with a bunch of friends for Rockston to the 
north, taking twenty days to make the trip. Remaining in that town for 
about one month, I left for Aberdeen, Miss., on the 9th of September, 1900. 
I lived in Aberdeen until 1902, when I was employed by the I. C. R. R. as 
a carpenter with headquarters at Durant. After a time I was transferred 
to the Y. M. V. R. R. with same position and stationed at Memphis. 

"On September 23, 1904, I married Anna Belle Coburn, in Houston, Miss., 
and to this union four children have been born: Emma Louise, Mary Eliza- 
beth, Alice Lynell and the son, Jesse Thomas (called J. T.) 

"I remained with the last named road as carpenter until 1905; then I ac- 
cepted a position as locomotive fireman, with headquarters at Water Valley. 
I served as fireman for three and one-half years, and during that time was 
once President of the Lodge No. 402 of the B. of L. F. & E. In the autumn 
of 1908 I was a delegate from our Lodge to the general convention held in 
Columbus, Ohio. In the same month of same year I was promoted to en- 
gineer and have been serving the road in that capacity ever since. 

"I joined the Presbyterians while in Texas, but have removed my member- 
ship to Water Valley. I belong to the orders of K. of P. and Odd Fellows and 
B. of L. E., besides that mentioned above. 

"Since leaving Houlka 1 have traveled almost all over the United States, 
Canada and Mexico, but the days I spent in Houlka were the most pleasant 
of my life." 

Will Hobson is known in Houlka as a good, trustworthy man. Nobody 
ever speaks wrong of him. A man of clear cut character, a mogul of kind- 
ness, a heart of a ten-wheeler engine, and a tender sympathy for the unfor- 
tunate. He is on the right track in life, having in his grasp the lives of hun- 
dreds and of his own as he speeds over the shining rails from town to town, 
looking ahead always as the soul of his mighty engine responds to the touch 
of his hand on the throttle and rushes 'mid rattle and roar, on and on, fast 
and then slow, far into the dimness of a midnight world. 

WILLIAM ROBERT HOBSON 
Progressive Farmer 

Just one year after the Civil War, Bob Hobson was born two miles north 
of Houlka September 4, 1866. His father, Richard Thomas Hobson, came 



RAD HARRILL REED 93 



from South Carolina about the year 1850. His mother, Hannah Hulet Thomp- 
son Hobson, was a native Mississippian. Roth were of Scotch-Irish descent. 

Bob attended the common schools taught around Houlka for a few winters 
and worked on the farm in the spring and summer as a regular nloughboy. 
On the tenth day of December, 1896, he was married to Miss Mollie Ball, of 
Texas, an excellent lady of refined character, the very woman to make Bob 
happy and a home. His children are eight in number: Thomas Washing- 
ton, Ashby Jackson, Jennie Ball, Robert Angus, Hannah, Ola, Mary Hester 
and James Archibald. 

He joined the Presbyterian Church when seventeen years of age, and has 
always lived true to his fellow-man and the Christian religion. He is also a 
member of the W. O. W. His motto is unicjue: "Do right and trust God for 
the results." 

On the twenty-eighth day of August, 1893, he left old Mississippi for the 
black lands of the Lone Star State. The next night he landed in Waxahachie 
with $7.50 in his pocket and tons of determination to get busy. He did — and 
after a few months sent enough money back home to pay all of his debts. 
In the twenty years, he has accumulated through close attention to his crops 
the neat sum of thirty thousand dollars with a life insurance for wife and 
self of seven thousand. It speaks well for Bob, and it shows what good old 
grit can do when a Houlka boy applies himself. He is making Texas a good 
citizen and holds the high esteem of all the country roundabout. Lately, he 
has bought some property three miles out from Waxahachie on the pike road 
at one hundred and sixty dollars per acre. Many have moved from Chicka- 
saw to Texas in thirty years and none have done so well as jolly old Rob 
Hobson. 

RICHARD GILLIAM HOBSON 
Progressive Farmer. 

Christmas time was fast approaching — old Santa had filled his sleigh with 
thousands of toys and candies and the fleet-footed reindeer patiently awaited 
the crack of the whip to speed them on and on to a million homes. Snow 
flakes flurried round and round and gently spread a beautiful carpet of white 
over the Southland. Then it was, when the housetops and trees were spark- 
ling with radiance of precious diamonds, that Gilliam Hobson was born, De- 
cember 15, 1867. He is a brother of Rob Hobson of the sketch just preceding. 

Gilliam's school life was limited to the meager curriculum of the Houlka 
schools. In the meantime, he farmed with his father and later on struck out 
for himself. 

On October 27, 1897, he married Miss May Harris, daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. James M. Harris, and a lady of most excellent womanhood and accom- 
plishments. The children of this union are three bright young fellows: James 
Harris, Richard Thomas and Leon Griffin. Few years later, his wife suc- 
cumbed to the inevitable, leaving the three children, her husband and many 
friends and relatives to mourn her loss. On February 18, 1907, Mr. Hobson 
was married to Miss Tressie Sewell, a young lady of refined character and 
ability. Four children: Effie May, Ruble Lee, Aline and Robert Gilliam, with 
the three already, make for him a right large family in a happy and cozy 
home. 

Everybody likes Gilliam; all speak of him as a true good man. A man 
without blemish as the standard of men go. True to his family and friends. 
He is a loyal member of the Presbyterian denomination and a punctual mem- 
ber of the great Woodmen fraternity. 

Few years ago he moved with his family to Texas and began to farm 
some of the richest, stickiest, blackest land the sun ever beamed upon. It 
was "whoa, sah," time after time in order to clean his plow of the sticky 
dirt. Now, some man has invented a plaster of paris concern that makes the 
dirt turn off with apparent ease. Nobody welcomed the labor-saving device 
more than Gilliam, for it enabled him to do more and better work in less 
time than ever before. He raises more cotton, corn and wheat every year 



94 H O IT L K A Y E S T E R D A ^' T O D A Y 

than he can gather and has to employ extra help when the harvest season is 
on to get out the crop on time for good market prices. 

His ambition is to be a successful farmer and to this end he is rapidly 
making good. His motto is, "Do unto others as 1 ^voul{l have them do by me." 



JOHN EDWARD HOBSON 
Presbyterian Minister. 

Reverend J. E. Hobson was born in the county of Pontotoc August 12, 
1871. His father, John Edward Hobson, and his mother, Mollie Amanda 
Cockrell Hobson, moved into Chickasaw county, near Houlka, when John 
Edward, Junior, was only four years old. His people originally came from 
South Carolina into Alabama and thence to Mississippi. 

When John was only fourteen he had completed the common school 
branches at old Houlka. For the next two years he studied at the Agricultural 
and Mechanical College where he finished the Freshman and Sophomore 
courses. After this he took up the higher branches under a Presbyterian 
minister, consuming four years of his latter 'teens. At the age of twenty, he 
entered Southwestern Presbyterian University, at Clarksville, Tenn. Besides 
his literary degree, he also completed the Seminary course in Theology in that 
institution. 

Rev Hobson has been in the ministry about twenty years, having entered 
the work in the Chickasaw Presbytery, where he was licensed to preach. The 
first year of his ministerial life was spent in the Paris Presbytery, Honey 
Grove, Texas, where he was ordained. 

On the 11th of August, 1892, he was married to Miss Clara Eliza Cun- 
ningham, a splendid young lady of high ideals and Christian character. 
Three children, James Cunningham, Mary Elizabeth and William Kelly, 
brighten the home of this devoted couple. 

His ambition is "To prove himself a worthy workman of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who needeth not to be ashamed — rightly dividing the W^ord of 
Truth." His motto is "Faithfulness and efficiency." He is a member of the 
Masonic Fraternity, K. of P. and Odd Fellows. Owing to a multiplicity of 
church duties he has not been actively associated with the last named order. 

He is now preaching to large congregations in Water Valley, having been 
the pastor of that active church for fifteen years— thus signifying their love 
and alTection for the man and his logical sermons. He has also had pastorates 
at Honey Grove, Texas, Okolona and Senatobia, Mississippi. The churches at 
Waco, Texas, Mobile, Ala., Jackson, Tenn., Greenwood, Miss., Fayetteville, 
Ark., Napoleon Avenue Church, New Orleans, La., and the First Church of 
Memphis have urgently called him many times, but he prefers to stay in 
Water Valley, where his church of six hundred members work in harmony 
and honor and love their leader as a great and good man. And so it came to 
pass that he remained steadfast and abounded in the work of the Lord, wax- 
ing strong in the spirit and in wisdom — even unto the end. 



ANDREW GILLIAM HOBSON 
Progressive Farmer. 

Evening had spread its wings over the little village of Houlka on October 
3, 1867. The sun was far gone over the rim of the world. Crickets chirped 
gleefullv on the hearth of James Francis and Josie Cockrell Hobson—chirp- 
ing the 'news of a new born babe in the person of tiny, bald-headed, quiver- 
ing Andy Hobson. His parents were of Irish-Scotch nationality and came 
from South Carolina into Mississippi about the year 1848. 

After some years as a pupil in the Houlka schools he went to Memphis 
in 1885 and studied commercial business in Leddin's College. Two years be- 
fore, however, he went to work for Thompson & Hobson in the large Grange 



RADHARRILLREED 95 



store at Houlka. Later he moved to Texas and began to farm the lich lands 
about Waxahachie, his home now being on route number six of that town. 

On November 30, 1892, he married Miss Eola Gregory, a very industrious 
and splendid character — the very girl to keep Andy a nice, comfortable home, 
and companion thru life. Their children are, Lalage, B. Frank, Josie Mai, A. 
Feaster and R. Beaty. 

Mr. Hobson is a member of the Presbyterian Church and a member of 
the mighty Woodmen of the World. His motto rvmneth in this wise: "Do 
unto others as you would have them do to you under like circumstances." 

He is making a success as a farmer and holds the good will of all his neigh- 
bors in and about his home. Devoted to his family — kind and helpful to his 
friends — believes in smiles — lives comfortably. Many old Houlka boys like 
"Andy" have gone to Texas to become farmers; all of them are now inde- 
pendent men in their several localities and live as true and law-abiding citi- 
zens of that grand old state. 

WILLIAM GLEN HOLLINGSWORTH 
Ranchman 

September 16, 1889, when the footlights of the heavens were shining their 
little beams over the cotton fields of George Washington and Cicily Hamilton 
Hollingsworth, there was come into the happy land of Houlka one William 
Glen, better known as the robust, jolly Will Hollingsworth. His parents 
of straight English extraction, came from South Carolina to Mississippi 
in the year 1850. 

For several years Will attended the Marion and Houlka schools, acquir- 
ing a substantial common school education. In the meantime, he helped 
till the loamy land of his father's farm, about four miles southeast of Houlka. 

On February 2nd, 1914, he decided to try his fortune in the oil fields of 
Oklahoma. Letters from him tell of his work among the hundreds of wells, 
pumpers and overllowing, that surround the town of Gushing. He likes the 
country much better than he thought and hopes to some day be a limousine 
millionaire. When old Rockefeller dies. Will may take his place as the mas- 
ter of the oil output, sell oil for five cents per gallon and give gasoline free 
to all motorists who can't alTord to buy it at the present prices. He has seen 
a real cowgirl, cowboys, real Indian Chiefs, smoked the pipe of peace with 
them, joined in their pow-wows, snake dances, scalping tours, and caught 
a bandit right in the act of playing a band. Really, he may be chosen as an 
Indian brave and marry one of the young Ring Weds, or a Hahaminna or a 
Bilver Sell or a Bainrow, before he comes back to dear old Houlka. Methinks, 
the girl he left behind still has strings on him and if the squaw business 
is not settled before the preacher, he may yet live in the glorious glories of 
McCondy. 

Will is a member of the Methodist Church at Houlka and also of the 
Woodmen of the World. Believes in the Golden Rule from the first to 
last, from the middle both ways and straight thru again. Will is a true 
friend and a worthy gentleman. 

Since the above w^as written. Will has chosen the life of a Ranchman 
and is now galloping over the wind-swept ranges of Oklahoma in regular 
cowboy garb and a '97 "go-gittem" in his belt. 

JOHN H. HOWARD 
Sawyer 

Quiet, modest, friendly John Howard, was born near Houlka "when he 
was quite a small boy." His father, John L., and his mother, Allie Bolding 
Howard, were of Scotch-Irish nationalit5% pioneering their way into the 
fertile lands of Mississippi sometime during the war between the states. 

From early childhood, he had to help make the crops on his father's 
farm, going to school at Mount Zion for only a few terms in all his life. 



96 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A ^■ 

Still, his association with a world of all sorts and sizes of timber, he has 
lifted himself from plain old pine and gum lumber into a real quarter-sawed, 
beveled-edged, well-informed man. True to the grain, he has sawed his way 
thru life, striking knots now and then, but always leaving his mark in a trail 
of sawdust behind him. A "plane" man in his work and life, almost every 
home in Houlka having some ceiling or llooring in it that he made into good 
material when working for Hall in the old planing mill south of town. His 
work was always of the very best, and he knew a piece of lumber as no other 
man in the country knew it. The whir and whiz of the machinery is music to 
his ears, knowing to the last boll every ])art of a machine's construction, and 
when it gets out of fix he fixes it. His occupation is still that of a lumber man, 
doing cross-tie sawing with gasoline engine in the woods roundabout until 
he moved to Moorhead, Miss., where he is now engaged in the manufacture 
of fine lumber and other timber material. 

In 1907, he was married to Miss Jodie Morphis, a Houlka lady of fine 
character and many industrious traits. Two children, Boyce and Jowa, 
make "Popper John" mighty happy. 

His greatest ambition is to raise his children in an honorable way and his 
life motto is to be honest with all. That is exactly the life he lives for no 
man can say that John Howard is otherwise. 

He belongs to the Masonic Lodge of Houlka and also the Woodmen of 
the World. Loyal in both societies, willing to help any charitable organiza- 
tions, either by personal effort or in other ways that are honorable and true 
to the right. 

He is that man who knows what he needs to know at the right time — 
believes in the rights of others as that of himself — kind in his home — there 
with the goods. 

WILLIAM ALBERT HOWARD 
Superintendent Lumber Mills 

Somewhere in the confines of Chickasaw this big-hearted polite-mannered 
gentleman was born December 6, 187 L 

His father, John LaFayette Howard, and his mother, Atalecie Bolding 
Howard, were both of good old Irish descent and moved from Alabama 
into Mississippi in 18G6 and 1860 respectively. 

Having to work on the farm. Will didn't have the educational advan- 
tages that most boys get these days, but went as much as he could to the 
Washington and Houlka schools. 

Later on, he began work for E. Duston, near Atlanta, Miss., at nine bones 
per month. After working there and at other places for a few years, he 
went to Memphis and completed a business course in Macon & Andrews Col- 
lege. Coming back to Houlka, he was employed by Langford & Howard as 
bookkeeper. Quitting this after several months of work, he engaged in 
odd jobs roundabout until he was ottered the Superintendency of the Houston 
Hardwood Mills. EITiciency and careful attention to business details are 
his assets and he now commands the confidence and high regard of all the 
business people and his friends of Chickasaw. A salary of seventy-five 
bucks per month and expenses look much better than his former wages 
of nine simoleons and board. 

Will is a member of the Houston Methodist Church and of the Masonic 
Lodge. His ambition is to get to the top of the ladder and working as he 
is with lumber he can build one to suit himself with no one to bother the 
climb to the top. His motto is unique in its simplicity: "There is a life-long 
work for us to help others." He says this at the close of his interesting 
letter : 

"Boys, you must begin at the bottom. Do not say that you did the best 
you could — you must do it. The best that you do will not do — it must be 
done." 

Further on he says — "The present is bright and the future looks good." 



RAD HARRILL RKED 97 



Kind, pleasant, sympathetic, polite, cheerful. Always a good word when he 
meets vou and a smile that wont come off when the blizzards blizz. A man 
who comes in as your friend when the world goes out. A man who believes 
in luck as getting up at six o'clock and working sixteen. W ithal he s Will 
the willing. 

JOSEPH HENRY INGRAM 
Methodist Minister 

Time went on apace. And so it came to pass in the reign of R B. Hayes 
that a babe was come upon the house of Ingram in the land ot ChestervUle, 
Miss The heavens had smiled and behold, little Joseph Ingrain tripped 
down the ladder of Jacob and walked right into the happy arms ot J. W. 
and Rebecca Holladay Ingram on the "ancient" Autumnal day ot September 
4 1877 He was a goodly youth and a multitude of the tribe nearby came 
in and smote him, yea with four and twenty kisses smote they him, and 
he waxed sore to anger lest they should wipe snuff on his manly countenance. 
Both his parents had come from a far country, even from North Caro- 
lina long before the clash of armour with the Philistines. 

Chronicles of his Acts since that Genesis of his life are Revelations accord- 
ing to the Numbers of Judges who have noticed his Exodus trom place to 
place in doing the King's business among the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, 
sheep and the goats— increasing his talents both mental and financial as he 
went his way doing good. Lamentations passed by on the other side when 
this man was born, tor, listen— here is his motto, and it is Joe Ingram 400 
days in the year: 

"When your heart is feeling heavy and your brain is kinder sad. 

Don't worry about your troubles— think of the fun you've had." 

And it came to pass that young Joe was come unto the Houlka public 
school to gain wisdom and understanding from the wise men or chiet priests 
of that time. Desired he much wisdom— yea, desired he it, for he almost 
"rent" his garments sitting on the hard seats of learning. But, verily, he 
girded blackcloth and sashes about his body and delved deep into the wisdom 
works of the alphabet and geometrical pauperisms. Whereupon he was 
come unto other wise men of Mt. Pleasant, yea to Houston and even into 
the land of Vanderbilt. 

And his father arose and spake unto his son, saying: "If ye hath ears 
to hear, listen, consider the grass in my fields, you toil not, neither do you 
spin— anything but yarns, and thou art a whale of a Jonah along that ine. 
Now take thou this counsel, go ye therefore and holpen with a little help 
the workmen in the corn. Verily, I say unto you, go thou on." And Joe grew 
sore displeased, but gathered his raiment about his equator and went eager- 
ly" he on to the field. After three and twenty minutes he grew weary with 
much toil and fell face upon the ground in a "feint." And lol there came 
unto him a vision, and his face was lighted with an inspiration— yea, verily, 
a call had come to him from afar off— yea the toot ot the dinner horn! 

For many days he rode old Balaam's saddle pony from Houston to the 
Pontotoc county line, carrying heavy pouches of mail for Uncle Sam. In 
those days he went thru every "gate" that was upright in the whole domain 
of Eden No. two. From shindigs to blowouts, from pound suppers to con- 
certs, to singing schools and prayer meetings, to Sunday School and preach- 
ing— preparing^himself to be one of the Shepherds in the ecclesiastical work 
of the North Mississippi Conference. Joining at Winona in June, 1901, he 
abided therein until December. From that goodly ffock he kept up his work 
of casting out "bad mans," when he came unto the church at Fulton tor 
the years '02 and '03. He moved with "compassion among the multitude, 
healing the souls of carbuncles and selfishness," relieved them of divers 
torments and enough to make "both ends meat." He sheweth "much mercy 
to his lambs for he tells them that whatsoever they oweth him that shall 
they also keep. He tarried in the tabernacle of Randolph for 04 and Oo 
and departed thence to the synagogue at Myrtle, abiding with that part ot 
Israel in '06 and '07. Thence he journeyed to Glen Allen for an allotted 



98 H O I' I. K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 

four years. His congregations s\vooned not into slumber, yea, not even into 
the land ot Nod, for lie spake with much charity and awakened he them with 
the interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. Then there arose a loud voice in 
the green pastures of Schlater, even by the "still" waters of that land of 
milk and honey. They were in dire distress and needelh they an expounder 
— yea, needeth they Joe. So it came to pass that the C.ouncil came together 
and the disciples on the "distribution" committee, after much gritting and 
mashing of teeth, sent Rev. ,Ioe to these good j>eople and they hailed him with 
singing of Psalms and the grip of the gladsome mitten. 

In ^hirch, 1904. on the second day thereof, he became the manna provider, 
and the husband of Miss Annie (ireenslade. a lady of Christian character 
and refined womanhood. Liddell. Nan Rebecca and .loan make Poppie ,Toe 
the happiest man in all the world. His ambition is to be useful and in his 
daily life of sunshine he goes forever in the love of God and his fellow man. 



JAMES E. ISBELL 
Ex-IMayor and Merchant 

Jim, as he is known by all of his old friends in this part of the country, 
was born June 8. 1808. two and one-half miles North of Old Houlka. His 
father was George Isbell. of Virginia, and his mother was Sarah Elizabeth 
Harris Isbell, of North Carolina. 

His career was begun with thirty of the reddest cents a mint has ever 
struck. One battered straw hat. frazzled necktie, pair jeans pants and brogan 
shoes partially completed his wardrobe. Getting only a limited amount of 
schooling at Houlka. he decided to begin worlv and make himself a name in 
the world of business men. 

Going to Pontotoc, he was emjiloyed by Brown & Clark as a salesman 
in their store. During his stay there, he gained the confidence of all the 
people who knew him. by his honesty and kindness and his great respect 
for the older people. Working steadily for several months, he acquired 
enough money to take a commercial course in Jackson. Miss. Finishing 
there, he removed to Tuscumbia. Ala., and began clerking in a shoe store. 
Remained a clerk until January. 1894. when he began work for Harbison- 
Gathwright. of Louisville. Ky., as traveling salesman. Traveling for four 
and one-half years, he returned to Tuscumbia and established a gents fur- 
nishing business. Along this line he has prospered, having the good will 
and trade of all the Tuscumbians. 

He was married to Miss Unnna Barton Cooper, a lady of fine character 
that blended therein all the peerless traits of virtuous womanhood, on Novem- 
ber 28. 189r>. Hundreds saw the ceremony performed amidst a forest of 
chrysanthemums and potted plants, evidencing the high regard of the con- 
tracting i)artics held by the Tuscumbia people. For fourteen years they 
lived a life of ideal happiness, until she was called to a higher home on 
December 31. 1909. leaving three bright children. Barton Cooper. Louise 
Aldredge and Mary Brinkley. 

Mr. Isbell is a Presbvterian. thirlv degree Mason. K. of P., Odd Fellow, Elk, 
K. of H., W. O. W. and K. O. T. Nl. Loyal to all of them— liberal in the 
upbuilding of all religious and charitable institutions. 

Mr. Isbell is president of the Colbert County Good Roads Association, 
deals in real estate and has an interest in the Houston, Miss., and Tuscumbia 
ice factories. 

In April. 1905. he was elected to the Mayorshij) of Tuscumbia. and again 
in 1907 by a vote of three to one; serving to the best of his ability and to the 
delight of his many friends the full two terms. He ran again a few years 
later; hut the whiskey element and Ihe bribers cond)ined against him and 
accomplished his defeat by a close vote. Glorying in the fact though that 
he received the entire vote of the church people — a thing that helped smooth 
over the defeat. 



RAD H A R R I L L REED 99 



Mr. Isbell is an enlluisiaslic sportsman. Since the days of liis boyhood 
when he chased the coon, the rabbit and the 'possum up and down the 
Rattan and Schooner bottoias, his love for the lunit has iicver diminished. 
Birds and ducks and deer are his "long suit" and he's some "squinter" when 
it comes to bagging game. Many trophies of the hunt hang about the walls 
of his oflice showing his skill with the gun. Every year he comes to 
Houlka to shoot the wily quail and to the Delta to bring down a lleeting 
deer. 

"Jim" says at the close of his letter these few words: "Like many other 
boys who have had to work their way, I have had many ups and downs but 
always tried to get the ups. With it all I have been fairly successful and 
am a happy man." 

He is a "dancin' po' soul" when it comes to high-class stepping. There 
is not a floor in the country but that his feet haven't glided, rocked and reeled, 
to the old fiddlin' melodies of ante-bellum darkies. He "swungum and! 
swangam," swinging a hoop skirt here and another there, "until he never 
got tired." Could dance all night and pick 300 pounds of cotton the next 
day — and he's still at it; but not picking cotton. "Kinder killing" about 
the ladies, and many were the hay rides and other jaunting parlies indulged 
in by this happy young man. He can do the "Hot Tamale and Chilli Con Con" 
with just as much grace and rhythm as any of the great dancers of the 
Hippodrome. 

Eager to apologize when necessary — anxious to acknowledge an error — 
loath to ofTend — word is his bond — cleanly of habit and tongue — a manly 
man — withal a gentle man. 



CURTIS IVY 
Manager of Gin Plant 

Springtime had circled the world and slipped red hot into the good old 
Summertime. Monroe County felt the thrill of the Summer sun and was 
putting all the energy at its command into the production of cotton and" 
grain. Then it was that Curtis Ivy was born on May 2."), 1847. His parents, 
John Ivy and Lucretia Winn McConnell ivy, were direct descendants of, 
the Welsh and Scotch and moved from Alabama to Mississippi in 1842. 

When he was four years of age he moved to Okolona and thence to 
Tuscaloosa County at the age of fourteen. Enlisting in the war at age of 
seventeen, he served as a faithful soldier thruout the four years. His', 
education was limited to the Male Academy at Okolona; the mixed school- 
at Fayette, Ala., and the school at Prairie Mound, Miss. In 1867 he moved 
to Houlka with his mother, and his sister, Miss Mollie Ivy, and worked 
on the farm for four or five years in the employ of T. J. and W. H. D. 
Crawford of Red Land. His next work was with Abernethy & McCarley as 
salesman in their store at Okolona. and then back to Houlka to work for 
the Cooperative Association. 

In January, 1879, he was married to Miss Helen Rose Marable, a most, 
estimable lady of Christian industry and just the one to help ^Ir. Ivy thru 
the struggles of life. Their children are Champ, Minnie, Rose and John and 
they make their parents happy in the success they are realizing in the 
great world of hurry and hustle. Champ is a dry goods salesman and insur- 
ance agent in Birmingham, and John is a telegraph operator at Derma. In 
1908, he left Houlka, where he had been working as a salesman, for the town 
of Vardaman. Since that time he has been manager of tlie ginnery belong- 
ing to the Chickasaw Cotton Oil Co. 

Mr. Ivy is a Mason and lives the ambition of help to his friends and a 
substantial provision for his family. He is honest, sincere, friendly, genial. 
With a big heart of good will to man and a kind word for everybody he 
has come now into the happy life of a "Grandpap" and the joys of work 
well done. 




Hotel Houlka. 




Former Home of "Aunt Bet" Harrill. 
First Permanent Residence in Town Limits of Old Houlka. 



R AD HAR RILL REED 101 



WILLIAM TUCKER JOHNSON 
Farmer and U. S. Mail Carrier 

Five miles southeast of Houlka, W. T. Johnson was born on May 27, 
1868. It being his first visit into the home of Titus Green Johnson and Mattie 
Tucker Jolinson, lie decided to stay all night, and if he liked the family 
would bring his trunk and stay several more nights and days. He liked 
them so well that his parents, who were of straight old Scotch-Irish-English 
nationality and who moved from Union District, S. C, to Mississippi just 
after the war, found it necessary to put bread in his tum-tum and clolhes 
on his back for the remainder of their natural lives. 

Mr. Johnson's schooling was limited to the little Ridge School, Houlka, 
and the Normal College at Houston. Besides this, he has done a great 
amount of home study by the flickering rays of Rockefeller's watered stock. 
In fact, he is the best read man in this part of the country — having pored 
over the classic lore of the ages gone ago, works of the master minds 
whose thoughts have sweetened the centuries of literature with all that is 
noble and sublime. He has gone with Aristotle and Sophocles and Plato 
to the very pinnacle of the universe and looked down upon the rushing 
and rattling world of individuals, all working among the different laws 
and philosophies of the ages; then he has gone with the great Shakespeare 
into the unlimited fields of imagination, with a little Lamb and Bacon on 
the side. Old Ben Johnson is followed thru many miles of rambling randoms 
and old Hugo comes along with his great impulses of human nature. He 
has followed in the victorious paths of Napoleon to the Waterloo of his 
marvelous career; followed the Crusades in slaughter and starvation 
and exulted over the Marathon of Miltiades and the bravery at Thermopylae. 
Saw in his mind's eye the great Athenian sailors knock the Hellespont into 
a thousand white-winged wrecks of galleys and moved along the march 
of Alexander when he found no other worlds to conquer. Delved into 
the immensities of Carlyle, the pathos and wit of Dickins, far into the 
realms of nature with the grand old Emerson, deep into the moods of the 
blind Milton and many times thru the prose and poetry of Hawthorne, 
Irving, Longfellow, Poe, Whitman, Whittier and Scott. With Macauley and 
Gibbons and Rawlinson in the decisive moments of every nation, thru the 
trials of a young American land and on down into the battles of a Super- 
visor of the second district of Chickasaw County. For eight years he was 
charged from the rear, on the flank and from the front — fought thru the two 
terms with all the vim and vigor he could command, finally winning out 
and having the honor of being the President of the Board. During his 
popular administration, the contract for the handsome courthouse was 
let and his name along with that of the other members of said board were 
inscribed on a marble slab and placed in the outside facing of the court- 
house near the big door on east front. 

In the last big election year, Mr. Johnson made a great race for Repre- 
sentative; but was defeated a few votes by the Hon. J. A. Lewis, an old 
Confed. 

His life has been that of a progressive farmer, raising on his fertile fields 
the very best of vegetables and grain and realizing quite a neat little sum 
from his trucking and watermelons. In the beginning of 1914, he was 
employed by Uncle Sam as rural carrier from Houston on route number 
four. Giving up his old home in the country, he has moved to Houston 
to be near his work, where he hopes to gain better health in the outdoor 
life of a mail man. It was hard to leave the old memories that cling about 
his homestead; but he feels that the change will eventually be for the 
better. 

Mr. Johnson is a loyal Methodist, a Mason and a W. O. W., true to every 
one of them in their rules and regulations. 

On April 13, 1896, he was married to Miss Mary Hollingsworth, a splendid 
character of handsome appearance and intellectual ability — a lady who has 
made his life a happy one and who he is proud to claim as the mother of 



102 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

his children, Tommie Lamar, Leland Howard, William Thaddeus and Mary 
Ruth. 

Quoting from his \Yell-\vritten letter: "I have always had a burning am- 
bition to acquire an education. The ambition I once had for my own 
achievement has now changed to an ambition for my children's best interests, 
which I feel demands the proper training of their hearts, hands and minds. 
Then I have an ambition to be a worthy and useful citizen." His motto is 
the real Mr. Johnson as he is day after day — "Never do anything of doubtful 
propriety." 

Everybody knows Mr. Johnson as a true good man — cleanly of tongue 
and of habit— kind in the home and abroad — at ease as a conversationalist — 
smiles on our fortunes a safe fortress in times of trouble and a man whose 
life shines to the glory of the Lowly Man gone before. 

JOHN PICKETT JOHNSON 
Bookkeeper and Salesman 

Three miles south of Houlka, on December 8, 1874, when all the woods 
and meadows were decked in the shimmering glistening glories of a rain- 
bow^ and every litle bird and animal were laying up stores for the coming 
winter — then it was that Johnnie Johnson was born. His parents, Daniel 
Sartor Johnson and Cornelia Tucker Johnson, of Englist-Scotch-Irish des- 
cent, moved from South Carolina to Mississippi in the year 1856. 

After several years in the public schools around his home, he went to 
Houlka for one session and then to Draughon's Business College at Nash- 
ville, in '94-'95. Then in 1898 he established a general merchandise busi- 
ness at Thelma with D. S. Johnson, Jr. Along with the store he kept up the 
work on the farm until he moved to Houston in the beginning of 1914. He 
now lives on the fine old farm of one Dave Hill, which he purchased w'hen 
he began work for Hall, Weaver & Co. as bookkeeper and salesman. 

Mr. Johnson is a member of the Wesley Methodist Church, having joined 
that faith when only fifteen years of age. His ambition is to be a good 
farmer and stock-raiser and give his children all the school opportunities 
available. 

January 5, 1897, he and Miss Katie Atkinson settled the matter right 
before a preacher and have lived happily "ever after." She is a lady of 
excellent character and industrious womanhood — the proud mother of Al- 
bert Sydney, Kathryn Louise, J. P., Jr., and Dannie Hughes. 

Everybody knows John Johnson to be a trustworthy business man. 
Accurate in his work, believes in the firm he works for, believes in the 
advancement of others along with his own, for the one helps the other. 
Gives each man the right of his opinions and lives true to the family he loves. 
Withal a gentleman. 

DANIEL SARTOR JOHNSON, Jr. 
Physician and Surgeon 

On June 4, 1879, when the stars of the cerulean canopy had blinked 
into existence across the great stage of the heavens, and the cloudy curtain 
had shot upward into the wings of another world and the millions of 
brilliants had danced themselves to the musical time of the leaping, whizz- 
ing and whirring spheres, there was fallen from that mystic land one little 
star of that unlimited number into the happy home of Mr. and Mrs. D. S. 
Johnson, Sr., afterwards known as little Daniel Junior, (Now, then, I've 
got him on earth.) 

In the year 1883, he began to study under a private teacher and later on 
went to the public schools near his home for ten years. For three years 
he walked to the school at Houlka and then for one year attended the Houston 
Normal College, In '98 he began teaching at Tlielma and after one year 
there went to Hickory Bluff for one year more. Thence to Wesley Chapel, 



RAD HARRILL REED 103 



one year; Midway, one year; Sparta, two years, and Houlka one year. 
While teaching, he served on the County Board of Examiners for five years. 
In the Summer of 1905 he completed a Commercial Course in the Eastman 
Business College of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Erom this he began work in the 
Bank of Houlka, December, 1905 continuing there until 1908 as Bookkeeper 
and finally as Cashier, Serving in that capacity to the entire satisfaction 
of the bank officials and the Houlka community. 

In the fall of 1908, Uncle Danyul began the study of Medicine in the 
Memphis Hospital Medical College. Was elected President of the Junior 
Class and in May, 1912, graduated with honors — fully equipped to help 
combat the ravages of disease and sulTering — ready to "put them in mizry 
or out of mizry." In June, 1912, he passed the State Board and began work 
as an intern in the Mississippi State Charity Hospital at Vicksburg on July 
1st, 1912. After some months of that work, he was appointed Assistant 
Surgeon on November 1, 1912. He held that position until April, 1913, when 
he resigned to take up private practice "and to get married." 

That important even occurred on May 7, 1913, at Yazoo City and the 
beautiful and splendid young character that stood by his side was Miss 
Olivia Carman. Dan is proud of her and she is i)roud of him — so therefore 
they are proud of each other ! And also their case proves the old saying, 
that when one irresistible body meets another irresistible body — well, they 
get married. 

On July 1st, 1913, Doctor Dan became the partner of Dr. C. D. Davis 
in the Houston Hospital and served in that position until Eebruary of 1914. 
Thru all of his medical work, Dan has made good — "taking out a man's index 
here, his vortex yonder and his convex at some other place." Lives closely 
with the old-time Aristotle and Galen and Harvey, seeking always more light 
on the development of the medical world, its unlimited fields of research 
and its scope of practical advancement in the application of remedial agents 
to the sick and suffering. It is a great profession, for healing the sick and 
the lame is of just as great importance as the profession of the minister 
in casting out devils by mental suggestion. 

Doctor Dan's motto is, "Be just and fear not," the very life that he lives 
bears that out, for no man says waong of him. He is cleanly of habit and 
of tongue — true to his friends and his family — true to himself. His am- 
bition is to rank high in his chosen profession and so live that he can always 
be able to meet his friends and acquaintances with a clear conscience and a 
good countenance. He is jolly always for he has a tongue that will tickle 
any time anywhere. His weight is between ten and one thousand pounds, 
most of it being in the region of his equator. Dan is a Methodist and a 
Mason and has his life insured for something like "fo' bits or a dollar." AH 
in all, he is a man — never forgetting that he is a gentleman. 

Tom Johnson, older brother of Dan, and who is a business man in 
Houston, and George Johnson, a younger brother, who was formerly con- 
nected with Clark Grocery Co., of Tupelo, as a stenographer and book- 
keeper, but who is now running the store at Thelma and living with his 
father, failed to answer my letters. 



THOMAS DAVID MARION 
Progressive Farmer 

Tom Marion, as the Houlka people know him, and the oldest son of 
Francis Taylor and Hattie Steen Marion, was born three and one-half miles 
east of Houlka on March 19, 1873. His grandparents on father's side were 
Irish and came to Mississippi from South Carolina, about the year 1848. 

Tom's education was moderately fair, being obtained in the schools 
near his home. At the age of twenty-eight, he was married to Miss Sallie 
Hobson, daughter of R. T. Hobson, and a lady of exceptional character and 
loveliness. There are five children to make his a happy family: Francis, 
James Thomas, Carl, Annie Ruth and George. 



104 H O I' L K A VEST E H D A "i TO D A \ 

Hoping to find it more profitable and having chosen farming as an occu- 
pation, he decided in 1908 to move to the great fertile state of Texas. When 
anything like a good season comes along, he and liis son Francis raise abund- 
ant crops and they nring lor him in the market a good-sized bank account 
that the red gullies of his boyhood could hardly create in ten years. Some 
of his rows are almost a mile long and he does not have to spend half the 
day in turning at the ends. All cultivation except part of the first breaking 
is done by cultivators. Tom would never get used to walking behind a 
little five or six-inch twister if he should move back to his old home. 

His ambition is more to lead an honorable upright life than to secure 
a great name or obtain great riches. His motto, "Do right always," is Tom 
Marion over and over and everybody knows that he does it. He would not 
belong to the great Marion family, some of the best people on earth, if he 
should do otherwise. Tom is a good Presbyterian and a loyal Woodman of 
the World. 

Kind-hearted, good to his wife and children, wears a smile that won't 
come olT and greets everybody with a good word and warm handclasp. He 
lives happily in the wind-swept town of Allen, Texas. 



ROBERT NEWTON MARION 
Presbyterian Minister 

And so it came to pass that on December 6, 1882, a babe was born into the 
land. Yea, verily, he was the brother of the man preceding, being another 
addition unto the great tribe of the Marions — faithful workers in the Lord's 
vineyard. 

Then arose a great clamour in the land, for, verily, the friends of the 
family made haste to first look upon the child. And when they were come 
unto him, they trembled with fear, lest he might smite them with his strong 
arm. But as all the tribe drew nigh unto the house of Marion, all began 
to speak in the manner of "What is his name?" After they had assembled 
together in the presence of the new-born babe, a cry arose from the covers, 
"To go ye forth and fetch unto me some manna, yea even a piece of corn 
bread." When all had suggested some name for the little man, the final 
decision rested with Robert Newton Marion — then, now and forever. 

After many days of sojourning in the land of boydom, it came to pass 
that he was seized with a desire to procure an education. For a few years 
he attended the schools of Houlka and then into the wilderness of Maben, 
where he graduated with highest honors in the year 1905; also receiving 
a gold medal. Before this he taught the school of Elise, Chickasaw County, 
during '03 and '04. Now in the days of September, 1905, he arose and 
wrapping his garments about him, went forth into the city of Clarksville, 
Tenn., where he grew strong in the wisdom of books and in the struggles of 
the gridiron. Many were the battles he waged against the Philistines of 
other colleges, and there was great slaughter in their camp. He would tackle 
anything from guard to center, his prowess going forth into the land of rival 
nations. In 1909 he won the Stewart Bible Medal, and in the fall of 1910 
entered the Theological Seminary of Columbia, S. C. While in that state 
he began his ministerial work with three churches, the town of Bethune 
as his headquarters. From that time until 1913 he did much good work 
among the mountain people who never had the pleasure of knowing the 
true story of the Jesus Christ and His gospel. Receiving a call from Chicago, 
he went into that land of heathen habitation known as the slums or "the little 
Hell of Chicago." There he is doing mission work in the congested and 
pitiful tenements of the poor. It is a great work and the good he is ac- 
complishing cannot be estimated in mere words. Many souls are saved thru 
a bit of kindness, thru (juick attention to the sometimes hopeless sick, and 
thru the giving of baskets and other life necessities during the Thanksgiving 
and Christmas periods of the year. He is located at 2330 North Halsted 
Street, and besides his mission work does regular study in one of the Uni- 
versities. 



RAD HARRILL REED 10.1 



Newt, as the Houlka friends call him, is well equipped for the ministry, 
having applied himself diligently and faithfully. Possesses a vast amount 
of good common sense, workaday reason, and in all of his talks and sermons, 
he shows profound knowledge of the Bihle thru and thru — and a keen per- 
ceptibility of life. 

JOHN THOMAS MARION 
Traveling Salesman 

Near the old Friendship Church in the Fall of 1874, when all the woods 
were decked in the glistening and glinting tints of the rainbow and the 
shy little squirrels were storing up nuts for the frosts of a blizzing Winter, 
J. T. Marion greeted his new kinfolks with the baldest little head and the 
tiniest footsies that had been seen in that country for many moons. William 
Marion, whose wife was a Robinson, were the parents of this little Scotch- 
Irish lad, and moved from South Carolina to Mississippi early in the thirties. 

John's schooling was gotten first in the A. B. C. school of Friendship, 
then to big "Joggerfy" and Ray's Arithmetic in the Houlka High, and then 
to the Texas College of Waxahachie for the tinishing touches of "Et tu 
Brute" and "perpendicular parallelograms and psychological phenomena." 

His first work was at Waxahachie in '96. After living there for three 
years, he returned home and worked on the farm for six long lonesomes. 
Then in 1900, sometime in March, he was married to Miss Anna Kate Robin- 
son, a most estimable lady of refined womanhood and just the helpmate for 
John in his climb upward. In '05 he left for Wynne, Ark., and established 
a fancy grocery business. Then in October, '00, he lost his faithful wife 
and after one more year in Arkansas, returned home for the second time. 
Went into business for himself in October, '07, continuing for three years. 
During that time, on December 30, '08, he was married to Miss Irene Hall, 
a lady of very industrious and excellent character and who keeps their 
happy home in the coziest and "comfiest" way known to motherly instinct 
and education. In 1910 he sold out his business and became traveling sales- 
man for a local firm. He is now head clerk and traveling man for Hall, 
Weaver Grocery Co., doing a wholesale and retail business in Houston, 
Miss. 

Mr. Marion is a Presbyterian and connected with four sound fraternal 
organizations of America. His great ambition is first to glorify God and 
then be of some help to his fellowman. His motto goes along with the 
Golden Rule: "Do unto others as I would have them do unto me, so far as 
my weakness will permit." 

Elizabeth is the only child and "Popper John" loves her too — worth a 
billion, no less and much more. In all his business dealing, he is faithful, 
honest and efficient. Always ready to make amends for the least of errors 
and in every way he is a reliable, moral, energetic. Christian gentleman. 

JAMES ROBERT MAYO 
Wholesale Grocer 

J. R. Mayo was born November 21, 1851, in Pontotoc county. His father 
and mother, James T. and Malinda Halsell Mayo, were of sturdy old German 
stock and settled near the Toxish neighborhood long before the Indians 
left the country for ranges less civilized. 

Twenty-three months of schooling was "Bob's" limited education. Study- 
ing at home and observing much, he act[uired a good knowledge of practical 
and conscientious living. Working on a farm until he was thirty-seven 
years of age, he decided to move to Houlka in the fall of 1888 and engage 
in the business of retail general merchandising. In this undertaking, he 
sold many thousand dollars worth of goods and establishing himself as one of 
the most popular and successful merchants Houlka has ever had. 

After eleven years of this work at Houlka, he moved to Cherry Valley, 
Arkansas, with his wife, Casteria Ellis Mayo, and three girls, Jodie, Essie and 



106 HOULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

Montie, on January 1st, 1899. At that place he eslahlished the same business 
that he had followed at Houlka and succeeded from the very beginning. 

Later, he moved to Wynne, Arkansas, and built up a wholesale grocery 
trade with Mr. Will Robinson. They own two other wholesale grocery 
houses at Earle and McCrory, Ark., and all three enjoy a vast amount of the 
trade from the smaller stores and towns of the surrounding country. Whole- 
salers can make money if they know how and if anybody knows, it's "Bob" 
Mayo. 

Mr. Mayo is a member of the Wynne Missionary Baptist Church and a 
member of the Alasonic Blue Lodge. At Houlka he was a punctual member 
of the new Baptist Church and helped materially in the erection of that 
edifice. 

His ambition is to live a devoted Christian life, and his motto is, "Be 
honest and upright before God and man." He attributes his small success 
to honest dealing and hard work and above all a true belief in his Savior. 

A whistling, humming man is a happy man — that's Mr. Mayo. It used to 
be a pleasure among the little boys of Houlka to "watch" and hear his whistle, 
even if some of the melodies were "busted" into non-recognition. 

Mr. Mayo was always a kind and gentle man- -a friend who comes in 
when the world goes out. 

SAMUEL JOHNATHAN MAYO 
Cotton Buyer 

Sam Mayo was born "when cjuite a young man" sometime during the an- 
cient days of Pontotoc County — about the time DeSoto passed thru the 
grape-vine hills of that section in the long, long ago. 

His father and mother, James Thompson Mayo and Malinda Halsell Mayo, 
lived near the old Toxish Church and were of German origin; moving into 
Mississippi from South Carolina about the year 1835. 

Sam's father was totally blind, and as all of his older brothers had left 
home to enter other fields of labor, it fell to his lot to stay at home and 
care for his parents. The farming interests had to be looked after and 
although he was quite inexperienced in such an undertaking, he shouldered 
the responsibility as best he could. About this time he felt that he must have 
an education but under the circumstances it seemed impossible without 
breaking up the old home. This he regretted to do and finally he persuaded 
a brother-in-law to take his place as manager of the farm. Then Sam started 
out into the world to secure a long-wished-for education. Beginning at 
Houlka, under Prof. Eugene Campbell — in Sam's and many others opinion 
one of the greatest men and teachers the old state of Mississippi has ever 
produced. I^ater, Sam entered the Mississippi Normal College at Houston, 
then under the leadership of another great Mississippi teacher. Prof. H. B. 
Abernethy. From Houston he went to the University of Mississippi at 
Oxford. After finishing the course there, he began w^ork for E. S. Elliot & 
Son of Okolona. To Pontotoc from Okolona was his next step. There 
he engaged in the mercantile business with W. A. Dandridge for two or 
three years. Selling out his interest to Mr. Dandridge, he decided to wrestle 
with the bulls and bears of the cotton market. 

In part of his letter he says that it is mighty hard work but he likes 
it and will stick to it as long as there is something doing. At this business 
he hasn't made quite so much as Rockefeller has on his bank book, but thru 
it all he has been able to pay his "bode bill" and live the perfectly contented 
bacheloric life. His success has been strictly good, strict good middling, 
middling fair, nominal, low middling and fluctuating according to points 
and quotations, supply and demand, spots and spotting futures and the 
general bearish and liullish conditions of the cotton world. Sales and 
bales, bagging and ties, plated and blue-john cotton, ginning and linters, 
prices low and high — all go to make up the thoughts of this man who 
deals in the lleecy staple. He is really a big boll man, a long staple man — a 
man who does not stalk around with a seedy-looking appearance — a square 



RAD H A R R I L L REED 



107 



bale man-a good sample of Houlka product. He's Sammy on the spot 
with a future. , xi 

Today you will fmd him at New Albany, still in the market under the 
firm name'^of Mayo & Grace, midst the best people, accordmg to his opmion, 
it has been his pleasure to know. He is an ideal gentleman, smiling and 
cheerful in rain or shine, and always a good word and a genuine shake ot 
vour hand. . 

' His stay in Houlka was only three years, from 189/ to 1900. He is a 
member of the Church and a happy man. His ambition is, to make the 
world better by my having lived in it." The good o d golden rule suits him 
for a motto and he lives up to it in the every day duties ot his lite. 

CALVIN BAXTER McABEE 
Printer 

On November 23, 1889, in the Draytonville Township, near Gaffney, S. C., 
there was born into the home of William Leslie James McAbee and Etta 
Violet Coyle McAbee, a tiny bunch of energy in the person ot Calvin Baxter 
His ancestry is of straight French Huguenot and landed on the shores ot 
South Carolina long ago in the days of Oglethorpe and his faithful tollowers. 
Going to school there for several years he acquired a fundamental training 
that helped him secure a position on a Gaffney paper as printer and job 
man In that position he worked hard and held the high regard of all. the 
people in the town. Then in 1904 he moved with the family to Mississippi 
and helped his father farm for two or three years. In the winter he attended 
the Houlka school under Prof. Price for two sessions. Later he was engaged 
bv G W. Stubblefield as salesman in the dry goods store, serving in that 
capacity for several months. In this work he was liked by all of the cus- 
tomers for his polite manner and patient attitude toward everybody. Kind 
and willing always to attend to the wants of a customer without a groucli 
or a grunt. Kept his face covered with a smile and his tongue lull ot good 
words and cheer for every person he came in contact. 

He is now located at Houston and works as printer and reporter for 
the Times-Post. His work is accurate and neat, satisfactory to his employer 
and to his readers. His talent seems to lean just for this work alone and 
his great ambition is to some day own and run a big daily newspaper. He 
is steadily working upward and there is no doubt but that he may attain the 
dream of his soul. 

In 1913, Baxter was married to Miss Ola Neal, of Houston, once the 
popular school teacher in the little school of old Houlka and a lady ot 
excellent womanhood. One child in the name of Cole Blease McAbee makes 
"Popper Baxter" the happiest little daddy top-side 'o Kingdom Come. 

Baxter has always been interested in athletics and plays the game of 
baseball like the big leaguers. Really, he has saved Houlka from many a 
defeat, and while on other teams swatted the ball to all corners ot the lot. 
Pitcher, shortstop and fielder, he was at home with them all and had rather 
play a game than eat porterhouse steak or chase a welsh rarebit thru a 
gasoline chafing dish. When two-baggers meant a win, he was Baxter at 
the bat— when a muffed lly meant a score, he was Baxter with the ball. 
Bombarding, battling binger, beatem out Baxter— Baxter with the mucila- 
genous mittens. ,. . , , , . 

Baxter is a member of the Woodmen of the World and a charter mem- 
ber of the "Houlka Good Pillows Get Together Association His motto 
is "Hustle" True as day, too, for he is always on the job— keeps pressing 
on— makes his points to suit the pressing engagement-^a typical gentleman 
of the neatest type— slugs nobody— sets a line o' type in good form— never 
talks in half-tone— keeps his plate-matter clean, and never gets two sheets in 
the wind. So, equipped with a good letter-head and a bill ahead in his pocket 
he eoes on thru the periods, commas, semi-colons, exclamations and hyphens 
of life with a happy heart thumping to the tune of whirring machinery and 
throwing back tvpe into the inclined cases of the modern print shop. 



108 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

WILLIAM GROVER McABEE 
Progressive Farmer 

On May 3rd, 1892, in the little town of Grindall, South Carolina, 
Grover McAbee made his first visit into the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. J. 
McAbee. Poor little fellow didn't have many clothes, "ceptin" two and 
one-half sprigs of hair on the roundest, reddest head that ever blinked 
two eyes and a mouth. He wouldn't wear dresses like the girls — pants were 
stylish in those days and pants he had to have. So his good mother cut a 
pocket out of her husband's coat and in three jilTs she had some tiny pants 
for Grover that would have taken the prize in any show. Now he was a 
man — big blouse and pants— nothing else under tliem but Grover. Not a 
happier kiddy in all the red gullies of that state could be found and the 
scootings down those cracks in the earth wore into Grover to his intense 
delight and with nmch sewing on the part of his mother. 

He moved to Houlka in 1903 and for ten years farmed with his father 
five miles south of Houlka, and then later in the old town where his people 
now live. During the winter months he attended the schools of this place 
and completed most of the prescribed course given during that time. 

On August 12, 1912, he was married to Miss Sunie Elizabeth Mabry, a 
very industrious lady of excellent character and just the better-half for 
Grover. One child, Virginia, makes their home happy and life worth living. 

He moved to Pacolet, S. C., on March 10, 1913, and is now farming with 
his father-in-law^ Grover is a Baptist and a W. O. W., loyal to both and lives 
always with high regard for the other fellow's feelings and for the uplift 
of his people and country. True to his family, his friends and to him- 
self. Cleanly of habit and a moral gentleman twenty-seven hours per day. 

JAMES EUGENE McJUNKIN 
Presbyterian Minister 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. World upon 
worlds shot into space as the mightiest miracle of Divine achievement. 
And then He fashioned man — the grandest conception of the Omnipotent 
brain. Woman was made and shared the first sins of the human race. 
People multiplied until the fountains of the heavens and earth wiped all 
but a faithful few from the universe. Then from Moses on and on thru the 
history of the world man was working marvels with the natural resources 
of the nations. Wars wrecked the countries of their men and left desolation 
in its wake. Nations rose and fell in mighty combat. Man was still striv- 
ing — onward — upward — forever, and the monumental achievements of the 
brilliant minds of the world rang from shore to shore. Discoverers opened 
new worlds to conquer. America loomed up and Bunker Hill "was heard 
around the world." Booms of cannon shook the Sunny Southland into 
poverty and defeat. Man was still hustling for the goal of success. Then it 
was, in the early eighties, on October 11th, when the setting sun had left 
its track of glory across the rim of the skies and had gone to another world 
in the shimmering sheen of that happy day, there stepped on the stage of 
life, a young man with form but void of understanding. 

And when the father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. William Davis McJunkin, 
looked upon the child, behold it was genial Genie, gentleman Genie, who had 
just been left by the angels of the Good Master as the first "itsum-bitsum" 
happiness of this well known family. 

On the banks of the rushing Chuquetonchee river, east of Houlka in the 
Shiloh township, the little fellow tirsl climbed the tree of knowledge and ate 
of its precious fruits with all the eagerness and enthusiasm that has char- 
acterized his life from that time until now. Growing up on the farm with 
a goodly number of Ham's descendants, he listened with mingled fear and 
delight as the old black Mammies and the old Uncles told him ghost stories 
or chanted the old-time Southern melodies so beautiful and dreamy in its 
U'onderful originality. 



RAD H A H H I L L W K E D 109 



Quoting a line or two from his good letter, it goeth in this wise: 

"Having arrived at bigger years, many of the farm duties devolved upon 
him. His father succeeded in teaching him to do farm work, but failed 
miserably in teaching him to love it. However, many were the times that 
he halted during the seething sunnner sunshine to'qualT from the 'Old 
Broken Bucket' the nectar of the clouds." 

Four months of the year he studied under the "rods of correction" that 
always happened to be in the tight gn.sp of the Ichabod Crane schoolmaster. 
From that he went regularly to Sunday School and other services of the 
sanctuary, learning the story of the Christ and His disciples. Close atten- 
tion was paid by the family to the observance of the Sabbath, and many 
were the little inspirations that played about that devoted circle in the 
communion of soul with soul. 

Before going to French Camp Academy to prepare himself for the gospel 
ministry, he combined two years in teaching and in farming to help the 
talents needed for this great work. After two years in this Academv, he was 
come unto the famous S. P. U. in the far country of Clarksville, Tenn. Here 
he abided until the year of 1913, when he was graduated with high honors 
and with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and of Divinity. Now he was full 
of understanding and waxed strong in mighty works for the Lord. His 
ordination was by the Presbytery of East Alabama and he is now the good 
Shepherd of the tlock in Wetumpka, Ala., and for two others who have 
gone astray from town and live on the green pastures in the country. The 
people love him, believe in him, go to hear him preach and pay up "now." 

Genie claims that he was never a ladies' man but was always open to 
conviction when some tlower bloomed his way of thinking. At Clarksville 
he met his "Waterloo" and also his tuture helpmate! The "bam of Giliad 
and "He" of Patmos spread over his soul in all the ecstasies of a Romeo. 
Miss Beulah McCauley was the young lady of his dreams. She had been the 
librarian at Judson College and a teacher in her home town. Genie was 
all smiles for he felt that there is a bride in the afTairs of men, when taken 
at the right time leads him on to fortune — omitted, his life would be shallow^ 
and miserable! So it came to pass that they entered into a covenan! among 
themselves to be joined "asunder" by some' divine of same faith and ordej-. 
They are a happy couple and suit each other in all their Acts. Housekeeping 
is now their glory and doughnut holes are scattered about the lloor in 
"constant confusion." Then in those days cometh the bill collector, saying, 
"remit ye, for the bill of leaven is in my hand." Rev. Genie sits back in his 
dining chair and in a quiet voice speaketh he in this manner: "Well done, 
my good and faithful wife, thou hast cooked these few things so nicely, 
I will ask you to cook many more things." And his wife grew not sore 
to anger and fell on his neck, "wepping" in happiness. The date of the 
marriage was November 19, 1913, and they have been peaceable ever since. 

Genie never neglects the great obligations he owes to his Blessed Father 
and goes his way in the teachings of the Scriptures with a big heart of 
trust for man and woman and in the soul salvation of the world for Christ 
Jesus. 

EDWARD WALTHALL McJUNKIN 
Progressive Farmer 

In the glorious golden days of 1889 that have gone glimmering into the 
long, long ago, a child was born, millions of them possibly, l)ut this history 
records only one, and that was Walthall, peeping into existence on Septem- 
ber 26th. His parents, William Davis Mc.Iunkin and Mary P. Mc.Tunkin, 
trace their ancestry from Scotland and Ireland. His mother was a Mclunkin, 
before marriage and now lives in the old Oliver Williams home just a bit 
east of the old Houlka cross roads. His father es])oused the cause of the 
Confederacy, "putting the panic" to the Yankees all thru the conllict. He 
died before Walthall was a man of his ownsome, lonesome, and he grew up 
without advice, except for a few years, and watchcare of his father, bucking 
up against the proposition of bread and other "eats" for the family. 



110 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

Most of liis schooling was obtained near liis home and then after moving 
to old Houlka he studied for a few terms in tlie High School work; farming 
in the meantime with average success. Then for several months he worked 
on a road machine for a contractor. Later the Texas fever bug buzzed 
about his ears and he left for Allen, on January 1st, to work on farm with 
Gilliam Hobson. Walthall is a man of moral character and always a gentle- 
man, a Presbyterian and a Woodman of the World. 

THOMAS OLIVER McLAUGHLIN 
Manager Kellogg Corn Flakes Company 

Good old summertime had gracefully slipped into the lap of autumn, 
and as it nestled there for one more sweet embrace before it journeyed 
to the realm of summers long ago, a little speck of humanity, afterwards 
christened Thomas Oliver McLaughlin, was born. The exact time was 
September 18, 1885, in the cozy little home of his father and mother, John 
C. and Mary Grimes McLaughlin, just four miles a little west of north from 
Houston. The nationality of both was strong old Irish and as to their first 
home in the new world and when they moved to Chickasaw, there is no 
authentic record. 

After his father died in 1896 it was up to Oliver to get busy for himself 
and for his good old mother. A strong determination to be something, to 
be independent, was his every-day thought. Forcing himself to hard study 
and by keeping his will power ever in the front, he has at last hit the right 
trail and accomplished the great desire of his youth — to make an honor- 
able living for his mother and for the family of his own. He is now holding 
a good position in the Kellogg Corn Flake Company of Kansas City, Missouri. 

Oliver attended the small schools around his home for a few years and 
later studied four years in the school at Houlka. From here he went to 
West Point and finished a commercial course in the Business College of 
the town. His first position of any importance was with Dean & Murphy 
of Okolona for a period of four months. While at work as a bookkeeper 
in West Point, he met Miss Mary Hurst, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy 
business man of that city. On February 7, 1906, they were married and 
for three years she helped him in a mercantile business in her home town. 
Selling out his stock and good will, Oliver and family, for he has one little 
girl, moved to Beaumont, Texas, to become manager of the Duke's Restau- 
rant. In December, 1911, he went to Kansas City, to do the same work for 
the same firm. After four months, the firm sold out and Oliver was out of 
a job. An employment agency directed him to R. H. Whitmore, sales agent 
for the Kellogg Company. The man wanted only an ofTice boy, but Oliver 
was persistent and asked to let him begin at the very bottom. An agreement 
was made. The salary was small but Oliver got right down to work. Pro- 
motion followed promotion — salary soared. Office hours from eight to 
five, but Oliver was on the job from seven to six, day in and day out. Always 
ready, always faithful, he had won the confidence of his employer and more 
important work lay at his desk. Other firms offered positions but Oliver 
liked good old Corn Flakes and there he kept his spoon and saucer. 

Oliver worked up from olTice boy to cashier and office manager and 
now has charge of forty salesmen in six states of the South and West. 
Much responsibility is heaped upon him but he slides smoothly along like 
an old head and keeps things in apple-pie order. Quoting from his letter: 

"I'm not satisfied yet and expect to work in the future as I have in the 
past for I still have a lot to gain. I find that to get a headway nowadays is to 
work always to the interest of your employer and to yourself as well and 
always be on the square. I strive to make my work 100 cents on the dollar 
and give a square deal to all." 

Oliver is a Baptist and a true good gentleman in every sense of the word. 
Pleasant at all times and ready in any way to lend a hand. His father-in-law 
wants him to manage a big ranch in Texas, but he refuses to take uji the 
work on account of his good position in Kansas City and the possibility 



RAD HARRILL REED HI 



or promotion to more important work and mcrease \n salary. He bids 
fair to become a prominent business man in tbe commercial life ot that 
city and to this end his ambition is sfeadily and successfully leading him to 
that goal. 

ELBERT WALKER NANCE 
Educator 

It was Springtime; Ilowers bloomed and nodded in graceful tune to tlie 
smiles of the universe; sunshine was everywhere. The last drops of dia- 
mond dew were driven into the atmosphere as the brilliant rays ot the 
morning sun beamed down upon the fields and meadows. It was a glorious 
day to "be born, when all the birds were chirping to the rhythm ot the 
rolling spheres and the little children of Mother Earth were peeping into 
a world of loveliness— then it was, that on this beautiful day. May 17, 18«8, 
H:ibert Nance was born. His parents, Jesse Columbus Nance and Elizabeth 
Halsell Nance, are of Irish extraction, the former moving from South Caro- 
lina at an early age and the latter a native of Mississippi. 

Born, "when ([uite voung," Elbert began to wail for wisdom and many 
were the almost unanswerable questions he propounded daily to his lather 
and mother. If the answer did not suit he hunted it up in books or reasoned 
it out himself. For several vears, Elbert applied himself diligently in the 
school at Houlka and later attended the High School at Union, S. C. In 
1908, he began teaching a short term in a little school out from Houston. 
Then for two vears he' taught a school near Okolona and after that began 
the teaching of the McCondv boys and girls. The school nourished and the 
management of it coupled with its general appearance in the way ot im- 
provements gave his work as one of the best in Chickasaw. A very compli- 
mentary article published in the Times-Post of Houston last year about the 
McCondy school was quite an honor to Elbert and his able assistant, Miss 
Susie Harris. 

Elbert enjoys the work, in fact, loves it. Had a good many downs and ups 
during his first few months of teaching but the experience ripened into pleas- 
ure as the work went on. He made friends with everybody— helped those 
who needed help with much patience and fortitude. His first pupils are about 
all married now and the others are advancing themselves in the various 
high schools and colleges of Mississippi. One great task was learning to 
bear up under the handles of Professor, Perfesser and 'Fesser. Another 
was "note-getting" from mothers regarding the executive department, and 
especially those mothers whose children were being "imposed" upon by the 
so-called "Smart-Alecks." The psychology of teaching amuses him to the 
very limit for he has a keen perceptibility of every whim and eccentricity 
of humanity. 

Elbert has for the Summer of 1913, been clerking in a delta store and 
feels free to say that he is entirely up with that kind of work. 

Moral, good-mannered, gentlemanly, jovial— Elbert holds the high regard 
and confidence of all who know him. Always ready to forgive, ready to 
make good a promise, kind and respectful to everybody and especially the 
older people. He is a Baptist by profession, belongs to no orders and believes 
in the good old saying: "Learn to labor and to wait." 
He gives the following as a brief sketch of his life: 

"Reared on a farm, where I learned to do everything but influence a 
few lacteal drops from her majesty the cow and to like everything that 
grows in a garden but turnip greens and fodder. Made a crop when 1 was 
seven years of age and each year after until I was nineteen. Being the oldest 
of eiglit children, I naturally had a hard time helping care for them. Hence 
I am the smallest; but not the ugliest. Have always loved school and my 
schoolmates— especially the girls. How I grieved, too, that none ot tliein 
would ever be mine. Waiting, tho', has caused the crop to improve some- 
what and methinks I have found the ideal of my dreams. Nevertheless, 
my single blessedness must still endure until she comes to the conclusion that 
I am her ideal man. Joined the Baptist Church when I was nineteen and have 



112 H O r L K A YESTERDAY TODAY 



never regretted it. Have traveled a good deal in the East and South and 
have found cranks everywhere — cranks turn things sometimes if they are 
crooked more are less. Am expecting to begin work as a mail clerk on 
some system in Mississippi and thru it all I expect to work and work hard, 
looking ever to the furlherance of my employer's interests and to the ad- 
vancement of my own position. It is a day of progress and the man who 
knows will eventually reign supreme. To that end I am putting every ounce 
of energy and brains to deliver the goods." 

Eibert is a pleasant conversationalist, wears the smile of good health 
and good will to men. He is a royal young gentleman and deserves much 
credit for "coming thru" as he has done just by his lonesome. 



LONNIE NORMAN 
Lumber Company Superintendent 

From a large snow cloud that drifted over the hills and valleys of Ridge, 
Miss., a little "bitsy" boy, afterwards known as Lonnie, was dropped into 
the happy home of Charles W. and Nancy Grimes Norman on December 
11th, 1886. His father and mother were from South Carolina and Alabama, 
moving into the Mississippi and settling between Houlka and Houston few 
years after the war of 1801-65. 

After going to several schools at different places roundabout his home and 
then finishing everything the Houlka School could give, he began to teach 
in some of the small schools of the county for four years. Saving up enough 
money to take a business course, he immediately entered the Draughon's 
Commercial College at Nashville and by steady work graduated with honors. 

In the Autumn of 1908, he went to South Mississippi and located at Lyman, 
as principal of that school. The entire term was not finished for he secured 
a position with the "Ingram-Day Lumber Co." in March of the following 
year. He began work as timekeeper and has worked in nearly all of the de- 
partments, being promoted from time to time. His present position is keep- 
ing two stenographers busy handling lumber shipments on an average of 
125,000 feet per day. The company appreciates his work and gives him a 
nice salary for his earnest and faithful efi'orts in their behalf. 

Lonnie is a Methodist and a Woodman of the World. December 8, 1912, 
he was married to Miss Edda Bertha Dickson, an accomplished young lady 
of rare womanhood and splendid mental abilities. One girl, Bessie Marie, 
makes her red-haired daddy a hai^py man. 

Quoting a few lines from his letter: "I sometimes aspire to have great 
success financially; but now believe I w^ould prefer to succeed with what- 
ever I undertake and live to a good old age with my wife and child and at 
last be called home where my troubles will end. I try to live each day so as 
not to have any regrets for being one of the workers in the fields of human 
endeavor." 

Lonnie is always a gentleman — true nobility of soul and the embodiment 
of honor. Anxious to do the right and ready to help friend or foe in times 
of trouble. It was always a pleasure to get Lonnie to solve a problem that 
we kids should have done ourselves; but prevailed on his good nature to ex- 
plain them for us, never thinking that he had problems of his own to look 
after and that his patience would always endure. Lonnie was ever a moral 
young man — used the nicest of language and always found good in the 
things that others looked on as worthless. It was my pleasure to desk 
with Lon during a part of one session and they were happy days, too, of 
study and of fun. Dividing apples, candies and chestnuts when the teacher 
looked the other way was our long suit and thru it all never got caught. 
If he ever did anything worse than that it is beyond my knowledge, for 
teacher and pupil looked to Lon for good examples and the sly munch of 
a candy drop was exactly what the teacher had to expect and what the 
kids always found time to do. 



RAD HARRILL REED 113 



DUDLY RUSSELL PATTERSON, Jr. 

Educator 

Lazy leaves lilted languidly 'long lonesome lanes and lawns. Lofty limbs 
loosed little leaflets into leaping, leering, lurching liberty and left looping 
the loop in limping locomotion. Then came swooping into the home of 
Mr. and Mrs. D. R. Patterson an old motherly stork from the land of Lillipu- 
tians and gently deposited a tiny-bit of red on a snow white pillow. Friends 
and relatives heard the news and came rushing in to see what the good old 
stork had left on her journey thru the grand old state of Calhoun County. 
Kisses, congratulations and many words of endearment ilew thick and fast. 
When all had left so the little fellow could take in the situation, Russell, Jr., 
turned to his mother and looking up into her face with his big blue eyes he 
said in a cute little voice: "Muvver 'ipe de 'nulT fum my mouf, all dem des 
lissed me all over." The date of his birth is November 7, 1887, and he is 
one of twenty-one children. 

His father was born of English parentage in Georgia, 1841, and moved to 
Mississippi in 1853. His mother, was a native Alabamian of Irish descent 
and moved into Mississippi about the year 1867. 

Russell's first schooling was obtained in the rural schools of Calhoun 
and then some more high school work at Houlka under Prof. J. S. Price. Dur- 
ing his first school days, Russell knew what it was to grub sprouts and rip thru 
a new ground on his father's farm. Stubbed toes, briar patches, poison oak 
and other "boyhood necessities" were his daily pals, and when he shed the 
old coils of that jungle country it was with a joy that knew no bounds. 
Houlka was glad to receive him in her strong arms of welcome and claims 
him as a son even if he were born outside of her jurisdiction. 

Few years after moving to Houlka, Russell entered Mississippi Heights 
Academy, at Blue Mountain. There he conducted himself in his usual gen- 
tlemanly manner and won the confidence and friendship of all Blue Mountain 
and especially of Professor Brown and his corps of teachers. Among the 
boys of the Heights, he was a leader and was chosen to the Presidency of 
several organizations fostered by that school. In May of 1912, he graduated 
from M. H. A. with honors and began a few weeks later to teach the Peeler 
High School. He is now at Faulkner, a few miles above Ripley, teaching the 
consolidated schools of that vicinity. He is the principal and employs assist- 
ants to help him with a big school of nearly two hundred pupils. 

Russell's ambition is to study medicine and to rank high among the great 
men of that profession. To this end he begins work at the University of 
Mississippi in the Fall of 1914. 

He is a true Christian character and as near perfect as any man it has ever 
been my pleasure to know. He is a quiet, business-like man; discusses his 
grievances with no one; cleanly of habit and tongue and prefers to find the 
world as himself. When people speak of Russell, it is always something 
good about him, for nobody knows of any wrong that he ever did. All who 
know him can stand up and say to all the world: "This is a man." 



EARL EMERY PHILLIPS 
Salesman and Bookkeeper 

In the grandest century the world has ever known and in the grandest 
county the sun has ever shone, the little eyes of Earl Phillips peeped into 
being in the village of Reid, Callioun County. His parents, Thomas JefTerson 
Phillips and Mary P. Lantrip Phillips, are of Mississippi birth and lived on a 
large farm before coming to Houlka to engage in the mercantile business just 
about the time the dynamite was booming its right of way down thru Houlka 
for the whizzing steeds of steel on the Mud Cat Special. 

The educational facilities were not of the best in that neighborhood, and 
Earl having to work on the farm and in his father's country store most 
of his time, he did not complete the higher courses of the curriculum, but 



114 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

by constant observation and a practical mind to think, he developed into a 
man of good information and an expert salesman. Later on he went to the 
Houston school for a few terms and then to Henderson, Tenn. After this 
he graduated in one of the business colleges of Memphis. 

For a few years he was the popular salesman and bookkeeper in the 
store of T. J. Phillips & Sons, where thousands of dollars were handled in 
the course of a year in supplying the farmers and lumber men with the gen- 
eral necessities of life. Then in 1911 he left on March 1st for Lambert, in 
the Delta, to work as salesman in another of the Phillips' stores. At present 
he is located at Moorhead, Miss., running a large commissary for Bell & 
Owen. His work is efl'icient, draws a good salary and is highly regarded by 
his employers and by all who know him as a trustworthy gentleman, ready 
every pop to help the under man or to advance some cause of worthy con- 
sideration. 

June 4th, 1907, he and Miss Minnie Ray Wilson, a jolly good lady of ex- 
cellent womanhood and industry, settled the matter right before the minister 
and as the stories run, "lived happily ever after." Two children, Emery 
and Annie, brighten the home of this devoted family with all the cuteness 
known to the wee-wees of this generation. 

Earl is small of stature, quiet of tongue, cleanly of habit, large in good 
will to his fellow-man, true to himself and therefore true to the world. 



JOHN WATTS PULLIAM 
Retired Progressive Farmer 

The Southland was in preparation for a joyful Thanksgiving. Happy 
slaves were singing their quaint old melodies to the rhythm of swinging 
axes and flying chips. The harvest was over and on November 22, 1850, 
Mr. and Mrs. John Pulliam gave thanks unto God for the birth of a little 
son, John Watts, just in time to nibble on a big turkey dinner only a few 
days away. 

The homestead in which he was born, was situated two and one-half 
miles a little south of east from Houston and here it was that the subject of 
this sketch passed his early boyhood. He was only eleven when the cannons 
began to boom the news of a mighty conllict. The older ones of the family 
and kin went away to the war while he stayed at home to make both ends 
meet and also meat. His ancestors on father's side were first of Scotland; 
his father being born in South Carolina and moved into Alabama in 1835. 
In the fall of same year he moved into Chickasaw County. 

Mr. Pulliam had only four and one-half months of school life, that much 
being spent in the High School of Columbus, Mississippi. Still he is a well 
informed man, highly cultured, a gentleman of much practical common 
sense, obtained in church work, between the plow handles, in the school of 
hard knocks and in the association of inan to man. The great masters of 
literary composition and the unlimited knowledge to be learned from the 
Bible were a constant source of inspiration to Mr. Pulliam during the spare 
moments of his farm and garden work. He learned by observation, by listen- 
ing, thinking and keeping his mouth shut. 

When a young man, Mr. Pulliam moved into Pontotoc county and tilled 
the loamy lands of that country with varying success for several years. On 
November 15, 1898, he moved to Houlka with all of his family and began 
again the farm work on the old Mayo place a half mile north of old Houlka. 

Mr. Pulliam was considered the best garden man for miles and miles 
roundabout. His plants thrived under the gentle care of this second Bur- 
bank, and in all seasons his table was supplied with the finest of fruits and 
vegetables. Nobody in Houlka could beat him. He was always at work, ten- 
derly rustling the rich soil around some delicate plant, nipping sprigs of 
grass here and there and happily watching his garden grow up in a mass 
of richest colors in almost magic length of time. He certainly enjoyed the 
cultivation of all good plants and how joyful his smile when friends compli- 



RAD HARRILL RKED 115 



merited his work well done. His tomatoes were the reddest, melons the juici- 
est, peas the earliest, cabbage the biggest, peaches the ripest and everything 
the prettiest that could be found anywhere. Every little plant would sprmg 
richly upward from the wonderful care of this great lover of nature. He 
knew plant life — lived with it — loved it. 

Mr. Pulliam was married to Miss Gabriel la Hearn, a lady of rare Chris- 
tian character, and from this union have come eight children to brighten and 
care for them in the twilight of their lives. They are, Robert Asa, Johnnie 
Mc, James Lattimore, Mary Alice, Jesse Henderson, Juliet Greenwood, Janet 
and Thomas Andrew Pulliam. 

He is a member of the Baptist Church and the Woodmen of the World. 
His Sunday school work was always of the best and he could be found at his 
place of duty almost every Sunday in the year. Much sickness though, in 
the family caused him to give up his punctual work many times. 

In September, 1909, after eleven years of residence in Houlka, he moved 
to Blue Mountain to educate his children in the higher branches of literary 
learning. His daughter, Juliet, graduates in June, 1914. Three of the boys 
are away from home making good in their chosen professions. The others 
of the family are at home helping make life happy for those who made life 
possible for them. His ambition is the education of his children, and his 
motto, "The world for Christ, and Education the Means." Everybody knows 
Mr. Pulliam as a man of sincerity, highest ideals and noblest impulses. A 
man of mature thought, a pleasing conversationalist and a close student of 
the Master's Word. Withal, a truly honest, law-abiding Christian character. 

ROBERT ASA PULLIAM 
Salesman. 

In Pontotoc county, near Red Land, Robert Asa Pulliam was born Feb- 
ruary 12, 1877. He is the eldest son of Mr. J. W. and Mrs. Gabriella Hearn 
Pulliam, prominent pioneers of Pontotoc in the good old days of fertile lands 
and hanging grapes. 

Having to work hard all his life, his days of actual school work were very 
limited. Securing though, in the schools of Troy, Pontotoc and A. and M. 
College a good fundamental training for any life work he might undertake. 
Studying much at home under the glimmering gleams of Standard oil, he has 
improved his education to that of a well-rounded and well-informed man. 
Reasoning out the lore of the centuries by his "ownsome," thereby gaining 
considerable knowledge in the scientific and commercial world. 

In 1901, he began work in Texas as a salesman, thence to Florida doing 
the same kind of work and making quite a few eagles scream his way as he 
rode up and down the fine roads of that remarkable country. While away, 
he never forgot the homefolks, always carrying out the plan of his father 
to help educate the family in the best schools that the country could afford. 
For this he deserves much credit, for few boys who go away from home ever 
think of the needs in the family he left behind. 

In 1898, he moved to Houlka and when the new town was in all of its 
glory he erected a large and modern brick plant. For several years he made 
thousands of fine brick, shipping many cars away, besides supplying all the 
stores and homes of the surrounding country. Most all the stores in town 
were builded with the brick of his machines and kilns. Later he became a 
merchant and, after a few months of that business, went to Oklahoma and 
engaged in the real estate trade as a salesman for some big firm of that terri- 
tory. Now he is in Oregon, working as a salesman for an enterprising com- 
pany, making good as the days go by, having the confidence of his employers 
and of his newly-made friends. 

Mr. Pulliam is a Baptist, a Mason and a W. O. W. Lives up to the ambi- 
tion of "Owe no man, save modest sum for rainy day, and improve morally 
and scripturally." His motto is as unique as any I have ever seen, giving 
in a nutshell the really, truly things that all business men should follow. It 
is: "I believe in God— I believe in myself — I believe in the goods I sell — I 



116 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

believe in the firm for whom I work." Can you beat it? When every sales- 
man believes in that manner — well, it will never be. 

Mr. Pulliam never forgets that he is a gentleman — kind, sympathetic, 
honest. A man who can find time to help the other fellow — a friend indeed, 
always. 

JOHNNIE MC PULLIAM 
Progressive Farmer. 

Thirty-five years ago, five miles north of old Houlka, that famous moth- 
erly stork carefully swooped into the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Pulliam 
and gently placed little Johnnie Mc on a snow white pillow for the inspection 
of the family and admiring friends. 

Reared 'midst the grapevine valleys and hills of Pontotoc county, he has 
trailed many a 'possum and coon through the winding paths of Chuqueton- 
chee bottom and even far out into the Africa of Schooner. Hundreds of nim- 
ble cottontails and cunning squirrels gave up their life when Johnnie Mc 
squinted down a "dubble bar'l" and fired the "shot that was heard around the 
world." Those were happy days to that boy, and even now he dreams fondly 
of the glorious freedom of the woods and streams and wishes that he might 
by some power be able to live over the easy-go-lucky days of his youth. 
Days that are only appreciated after they are spent and can come no more. 

In the summer-time he helped his father on the farm and kept the crops 
growing with the rain that exuded from every pore of his body. F'rom row 
to row he whistled merrily the tunes of the Old Southland and never grum- 
bled or grunted unless a plow handle jabbed his liver to the other side of his 
"tummy." He found out that his "by-word" didn't hurt the handle so he 
grasped it the harder and cautioned the old "mommer horse" to lean against 
the collar for another go-round. 

Going to school in the winter months, he soon found out that making fires 
to warm the young ladies "footsies" pleased him more than preparing a 
"joggerfy" lesson or learning how to make the words of Webster's old blue- 
back speller stay on the tablets of his brain. Still, he plugged along and 
made grades as good as the rest of them. At Houlka he finished most of the 
higher common school branches after his father had moved here from Pon- 
totoc county. 

He belongs to the Baptist church and the W. O. W. Always a moral, 
Christian young man, he lives on a square deal with the world about him. A 
true gentleman all the time. He lives now at Blue Mountain, where he farms 
and does general public work to keep a few plunks in his pocket for a rainy 
day. 

October 7, 1902, he married the joy of his life. Miss Madie DeLashmet, a 
splendid lady of Christian character. After four years of happiness, she 
died December 30, 1906, leaving one child, Susie Elizabeth. Johnnie lives 
with his parents and daughter west of the college. 



JAMES LATTIMORE PULLIAM 
United States Cavalryman. 

A tiny Christmas present in the form of a red little boy, Lattie, was given 
to Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Pulliam, by good old Santa Claus on December 25, 1885. 
Never was a family happier than this one over the unusual Christmas gift of 
a baby boy. 

Most all of this young man's life was spent on a farm — the first few years 
in Pontotoc county and the latter part in the village of Houlka. In the 
schools of both Pontotoc and Chickasaw he obtained an average education 
according to the limitations of the school system in that day. In the summer 
time he worked faithfully 'midst the growing acres of his father's fertile 
farm. He wore beads of perspiration during the murder period of some 
"crap grass" and before the unruly little shoots could be forever "extincted" 



RAD HARRILL REED 117 



others would jump up and cause more beads to sprout through the bermuda 
of Lattie's cheeks and trickle down upon a despised hoe handle. The old say- 
ing about the liquid effusion of his brow grew a bit tiresome, and he bid 
farewell to the farm forever and a day. His older brother owned a big brick 
mill south of the new town and to this place of some more perspiration 
Lattie wheeled his way. After getting a few pounds of his own llesh caught 
into the making of several brick and learning the tricks of loading scrapers 
to setting a kiln he finally decided to abandon such an "easy job" and go 
to school. 

When the family moved to Blue Mountain, Lattie entered the Mississippi 
Heights Academy of that thriving school city. For two years he worked 
earnestly to make up for lost time. Although he did not finish the course 
of that institution, the work that he did do has helped him to join the cavalry 
of the United States. 

Lattie was recruited April 9, 1913, at Corinth, Miss., and began at once 
to train into the service of Uncle Sam. From Corinth he went to Jefferson 
Barracks, near St. Louis, Mo., and thence to the Hawaiian Islands by way 
of San Francisco. He is stationed at Schofield Barracks with many other 
newly-made companions and is putting his whole soul into the making of a 
United States soldier. He ranks now as a private, with a good salary and 
everything furnished but laundry and barber bills. In the forenoon he drills 
for two and one-half hours and takes the remainder of the day for "rest." 
He's enjoying it, too, for nearly a whole day's rest looks better than walking 
down a furrow or stacking brick most any way you look at it. 

During drill work, Lattie has learned to mount a galloping horse, with 
a Krag in one hand and sword in the other. While on the run he clips a 
cocoanut from a tree just as if it were a real man's head of an opposing force. 
Many other "monkey shines," such as standing on a horse while trotting and 
sabering an imaginary enemy until he has learned every trick and maneuver 
known to military tactics. We people back in the States can hardly realize 
that Lattie is a bona fide United States soldier, ready at a moment's notice to 
puncture an enemy with his "forty-some-odd," or charge a regiment like the 
"noble six hundred" of the Light Brigade. All of his friends are proud that 
Houlka has one old-time boy who has chosen the military profession and 
to give his life if need be to the cause of his native land. He is enlisted for 
seven years and hopes some day to rank higher in the great army of his 
country. 

Lattie is a member of the Lowrey Memorial Baptist Church of Blue Moun- 
tain, being baptized there in 1907. He is also a Woodman of the World. He 
is truly an estimable young man, doing what is right in everything that 
affects his being. Cleanly of tongue, has no bad habits, indulges in only 
the things that tend toward the moral uplift of his life and the happiness of 
his family and fellow-man. 



JESSE HENDERSON PULLIAM 
Government Clerk. 

It was in the good old days of September. Gentle winds tossed the lazy 
leaves round and round in languid locomotion, and as they slipped silently 
into the pitfalls of night, a tiny, wriggling, rolly-poly baby made his first 
triumphant visit into the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Pulliam. He came to 
stay — even wanted his parents to board and keep him for a time mdefinite. 
The time was the 8th of September, the place was in Pontotoc county, and the 
boy was Jesse Pulliam. 

As a farmer, Jesse exi)erienced all the joys and trials of that occupation. 
Like many other bovs of his age, the farm was too monotonous— too slow for 
advancenient, and oftentimes he wished, while trying to make an old horse 
distinguish the difference between "gee" and "haw," that he might get out 
into the big, wonderful world and "do something." Grassy rows, diggmg 
potatoes and picking cotton was torture and for several years it was only re- 



118 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

lieved by the nightfall and the gastronomical invitation of the twelve o'clock 
horn. 

His school advantages have been of the very best. Besides the Pontotoc 
rural schools and the one at Houlka, he has been through Mississippi 
Heights and one term at George Washington University, Washington, D. C. 
In all of them he has studied like a good fellow — often leading his classes 
in several of the higher texts. His mind is ever ready with a search warrant 
for more knowledge and nothing ever passes his way but that it sticks on to 
the thousands of other facts and figures of his good lady friend, Miss Sarah 
Bellum, who lives in the town of Medulla Oblongata. His special feats in 
school life were mathematics and "parts of arithmetic," being called by his 
classmates "some figgerer." He was never happier than when the answer 
column of his worn "mathermattuck" tallied with the one on his tablet. 
If Jesse couldn't "wuck it" we couldn't, and so the teacher "passed it up." 

On May 26, 1010, Jesse began work in the Department of Commerce, Bu- 
reau of Census, Washington, D. C, and quickly jumped to the highest salary 
of the clerks around him. After working in that capacity for several months 
he secured a clerkship in the government Post Office Department. His work 
has always been up to the standard of government accuracy and neatness. 

He is a member of the Baptist Church and loyal to its teachings in the 
everyday life that he lives. His ambition is to be a lawyer, and he expects 
to begin study in two years more. His motto is, "Do it now, tomorrow makes 
it harder, maybe impossible." He gives this thought at the close of a per- 
fectly typewritten letter: 

"From under the loving wings of dear old Houlka I have come into the 
service of Uncle Sam. It was not for a desire to get away from the good 
people of Houlka that I am here today; but it is the result of an attempt to 
answer the call that comes to every man; to seek something better, and to 
take a hand in larger things. I cannot say that I have succeeded on the whole 
in this attempt; but whatever the result may be, my thoughts will ever run 
back to old Houlka with a desire to some day do her the credit she so richly 
deserves." 

DAVID WASHINGTON REEDER 
Merchant. 

On August 31, 1858, there was born in the home of Joseph and Martha Jean 
Reeder, one little baby boy, and without his consent they named him Dave, 
and Dave it has been for 56 years. He is of Scotch-Irish descent and was 
born in Chickasaw county, after his parents had moved to Mississippi from 
Alabama long before the war. 

His schooling was limited to a few months each year, still he acquired a 
good fundamental training that helped him considerably later on in life. 

After working in Houlka for several years he moved to Coleville and 
started in with G. W. Cole as clerk. Later the business was moved to Okolona 
and there Mr. Reeder was employed as bookkeeper and salesman for same 
firm. Working there for one man over half of his life, three years ago he 
and others bought out Mr. Cole and went in the general mercantile business 
for themselves. 

Although his father was killed in the war and leaving his mother penniless 
with several children to support, Mr. Reeder has come up through it all, crip- 
pled as he is from the time he was nine years old, to a business man of promi- 
nence in the commercial world. All the citizens of Okolona and his old 
friends in Houlka know Dave Reeder as a man of the finest character and 
straight business dealing. 

On February 14, 1897, he married the Valentine of his dreams in the ex- 
cellent and industrious person of Miss Sallie Lee Boone. Three children — 
Velma, Ethel and Wade Reeder, bless this happy union in their cozy little 
home in Okolona. 

Mr. Reeder is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church and holds 
policies of a goodly nest egg in one or two insurance companies. His ambi- 



R AD H ARRILL REED 119 



tion is, "To work and make monej^ — make many friends — raise my children 
up to be useful men and women for the Lord and for their country." His life 
has always been without blemish in his business deals and, therefore, no 
wonder his motto runneth in this wise: "Honesty is the best policy, even unto 
the minutest detail; be honest in words, in thoughts, in weights and measures, 
for the Bible says in plain words, 'And with what measure ye mete, it shall 
be measured to you again.' " 

JOSEPH EDWARD REEDER 
Mechanic, 

The birth of Joe Reeder, as all of his friends call him, was heralded to 
the world on April 30, 1871. His father, Thomas Jefferson Reeder, was a 
native of Alabama and his mother, Eliza Jane Young Reeder, of Mississippi. 

Reared on a backwoods farm, Mr. Reeder received only a limited common 
school education. At an early age he loved to watch the flaming forge and 
the sparks of red hot iron as they shot out from a hammered piece of metal. 
He learned to make many little things as he "piddled" about an old shop and 
later on did much useful work in mending and sharpening implements for 
his father's farm. Moving to Okolona in 1897, he began a business of black- 
smithing and general repair work. Laboring steadily and successfully at 
this for over ten years, he retired to begin well drilling in and around the 
towns of Chickasaw. Up to the present he has drilled about 200 wells. 

It was a household word with all the Houlka people who went to Okolona 
with cotton, that whatever Joe Reeder fixed, it was done right and there to 
stay. It seemed to be a pleasure with some to break up wagons and other 
things just to get Joe Reeder to mend it. "By ding, Joe will 'tend to it" was 
an expression known from Okolona to the furthermost jungles of Schooner. 
It was always a joy to us little fellows when we went to town to go in Mr. 
Reeder's shop and notice how spick and span everything was arranged and 
how modern his work was carried on. System made many five-dollar Willies 
flutter his way and in all of his work he has made a good living and a nest 
egg for a rainy day. 

He was married to Miss Minnie E. Cole, a young lady of high esteem and 
loveliness, on December 27, 1891. One boy, Cleburne, and one girl, Katie, 
make for him a happy life. His first wife having died some few years ago, 
Mr. Reeder chose for his second companion. Miss Lizzie Bedford, a lady of 
excellent character and attainments. 

Mr. Reeder is a member of the Baptist Church, Knights of Pythias, Odd 
Fellows and Red Men. At the last of his letter he says this about his ambition: 
"To be independent some day; whether that day will ever come I cannot tell, 
but I am going to keep looking for it." For his motto, he believes in the good 
old Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." 
He has just moved back to Houlka and runs a machine shop on north side. 

He is a man of good common sense, ready to help in any good cause and 
a man as men are measured by the standard gauge of the Twentietli Century. 



LELAND BASKIN REID 
Educator. 

The most appreciated present old Santa Claus ever brought to the home of 
Warren D. and Jane McJunkin Reid, both of South Carolina and of Scotch- 
Irish ancestral nationality, was the "tiny little" form of Leland Baskin, just 
two days after the gloomy Christmas of 1866. One and one-half miles north 
of Houlka was the place of his birth, on a little farm his father had acquired 
since the close of an untimely war. 

Other tots of his acquaintance whimpered for whey; but "Back" wailed 
for wisdom. Wintry winds whistled wheezing whispers of a wonderful 
whirling world, wig-wagging, wibble-wobbling wanderer, whizzing where it 
will into the whither and whence of a western welkin. He wanted to learn 



120 H O I' L K A Y I-: S T K R D A Y TOD A Y 

all about this old stage of ours and to feel the pulse of those who had trod the 
boards before the flashing lights of human approval and had slipped back 
through the wondrous wings of time into the classic shades of immortality. 

The first sound that reverberated against the vine-clad hills of his father's 
farm was a rhapsody of the blankest verse the winds had ever carried from 
the vocal regions of this little baby boy. Swaddling clothes were a nuisance 
— he wanted pants — wanted to go to school. Pants came on, and the ABC's 
were learned with magic quickness. A primer and a McGulTey's first reader 
were cast aside. Higher studies suited him better. Addition and the other 
simpler forms of "mathematics and arithmetic" were mere playthings. Com- 
mon things like that were for others and he told his teachers to hustle up 
some philosophy, some real algebraic and geometric problems and some 
higher forms of "English and grammar." Shakespeare was a boon compan- 
ion and his first quotation was "There is a tide in the affairs of men," and 
so on through to the end. His flood beginning was not so "powerful" great — 
still it hasn't led him into shallows and in miseries. It has been for many 
years since he grew into maturity that his daily life leads him into exhorta- 
tion thusly: "My pupils, lend me your ears; I come not to 'learn' you, but 
to teach you." 

Chaucer, Tennyson, Milton, Irving, Dickens, Poe, Hugo, Longfellow and 
many other shining literary lights were his daily friends. His knowledge 
mystified the natives. The Reid clan were the proudest people in all the 
country roundabout. A man of pluck, of grit and of strong will power had 
come in its borders. Long after the older people had snored into dreamland, 
this young man grappled with the brightest gems of universal literature by 
the flickering light of midnight oil. Everything stuck with him. The apart- 
ments of his "thinkery" increased shelf after shelf. Literature in all of its 
forms was his hobby and he rode it many successful races. He didn't cram 
his attic with "Tip Tops" and the "Daring Deeds of Diamond Dick;" but in- 
stalled therein luxurious literary furniture, classically draped with the minds 
of the world's greatest geniuses and chinked in other nooks and corners the 
thoughts of his own observations. Every corridor, vestibule, by-path, alley 
and main street of his brain is set in majestic splendor with the richest 
thoughts of ancient and modern science; braced with the eternal network of 
progressiveness. 

In all his study, there cannot be found anything that portrays life as a 
fitful, fantastic and extravagant dream; but on the other hand, there are 
pages of his nature that tell of a life that is practical, animative and attain- 
able. What a pleasure it is to him to look back over the paths of his early 
struggle and to know that the acquirement of knowledge "makes a man fit 
company for himself." How happy it is for him to live in the decisive 
moments of history and in the deepest experiences of individual lives, and 
how delightful it must be to revel in the thoughts of all these big men and 
women, following the brave and accomplished gentlemen, the graceful and 
intelligent women in their measured wit and courtesies. 

It is a pleasure to listen when he does "let loose" in the classroom and by 
being good listeners many of his students profit thereby. When you are 
through talking, then he talks, but not until he is doubly sure of his ground 
and to whom he directs his words. 

After completing the curriculum at the Houlka school, Back went to the 
A. and M. College, at Starkville. In 1885, he graduated with high honors and 
in the fall of same year was an Instructor in one of the departments of his 
Alma Mater. Serving in this capacity for one session, he later became a 
teacher in the public schools of the State until 1890. In the summer of same 
year he moved to Texas and taught in the schools of thai State until 1906. 
Back to Mississippi was his next siep and innnediately began the principal- 
ship oi the Houston High School. From that time until now he has faithfully 
and patiently taught the boys and girls of Houston "to Reid right and with- 
mestick." 

On the 29th of August, 1888, Professor Reid was happily married to Miss 
Ella May Butler, a most excellent lady of rare beauty and intellectual woman- 



RAD H A R R I L L REED 121 



hood. Irene, (now Mrs. L. E. Tallichet, of Tupelo,) Leiand, Gertrude, Sam B. 
and Mary Annie are the five children of this devoted family. 

Professor Reid is a member of the Woodmen of the World, a Mason, and 
a Presbyterian. His ambition is and has been from his boyhood days, to 
always strive upward — to seek a reputation in a modest way. Not a great- 
ness to "lord it over" or in the rabble boom of a cannon's mouth; but a great- 
ness to help — to help others achieve. Methinks, his motto would be the life 
he has lived in thiswise: "Be thyself, know thyself, trust God and get busy." 

Everybody likes Back, because of his natural modesty, his clean, clear- 
cut living and his all-round goodness of heart and soul. People never say 
wrong of him, although he may make mistakes like every human under the 
shining sun, from time that runneth into memorandum. A man who strug- 
gled to win and the man who won. "Back" is the backbone of the Houston 
school, neither a back-biter nor a back-slider, never "chaws backer," and 
never backward with his greenbacks when some plan needs financial back- 
ing. Never backs down on a promise, and never reads paper-back novels. 
Lastly, he couldn't do the "back-step" if he knew how. Again, he isn't a 
half-back, a draw-back or a "Full Back." 



GILDEROY PORTER RICHARDSON 
Photographer. 

Golden leaves flitted through the purple haze of evening. The season of 
enchantment was holding sway among the red hills and fertile bottoms of 
the little Van Vleet village, when one "little bitsum" Gilderoy Richardson 
was born. The exact date of his birth was November 7, 1889. His parents, 
Reuben Benjamin Richardson and Catherine Ernest Richardson, were of 
Irish and German extraction. His father moving from South Carolina to 
Georgia about 1870, and thence to Lee county and to Van Vleet some years 
later. His mother is a native Mississippian. 

Gilderoy attended the Van Vleet and Houlka schools for a few years, ob- 
taining a sound working knowledge of all the texts he came in contact. 
Besides the books, he has gained invaluable education in knocking up against 
the world of experience and association with all classes of humanity. For 
two and one-half years he was employed by the Tennessee Nursery Company, 
and made quite a reputation as a smooth man in the business, command- 
ing a high salary and the confidence of the company. He has a good recom- 
mendation from the firm and when he wants to try the fruit tree business 
again, if such should ever happen, he can go back with an increase in salary 
and any territory he might choose. He is a Methodist by profession and 
a loyal member of the famous Woodmen of the World. 

Besides his farm work, he has run a beef market, supplying the best cuts 
that could be had in any part of the country for a period of six months. He 
feels that he is entirely up with butchering and making sausage to suit the 
whims and "tums" of the Houlka people. In July, 1913, he went to Houston 
and engaged in the art of "fotoggerfy" with Mr. Lee Wilson, a prominent 
picture man of that town. Gilderoy owns the gallery now and is making as 
good pictures as can be had in any part of Chickasaw or surrounding coun- 
ties. The pictures in this book were made by him and show what he has 
done in the picture line in this short time, rie is maivuig many groups of 
schools in the county and is kept busy until way in the night with the work to 
be done. He is on the job and his ambition is to be an expert in the art and 
make every picture better than the one preceding. Enthusiastic and pains- 
taking in all of his work, he has a clear field to mount higher from the nega- 
tive side of life and leave his prints on the walls and in the albums of time. 
Through the lens of life he takes this focus: "Think what you speak and 
speak what you think." A good solution to develop. 




Methodist Church— Rev. W. N. Dodds, Pastor. 




CQ^ 



Baptist Church — Rev. R. A. Cooper, Former Pastor, 



RAD HARRILL REED 



123 



LACY B. ROBERTS 
Bookkeeper. 

Ud in Union countv, October 22, 1892, when all the fields were shining 
white with cotton and the little people of the forests were storing up goodies 
for a long winter rest, then it was, on this beautiful autumnal day, that Lacy 
Roberts was born. . 

His father, Thomas R. Roberts, is a native Mississippian, and moved to 
Houlka during the babyhood days of new Houlka. His mother is a daughter 
of Mr. Corder? who lives up on Schooner. Lacy's ancestors moved into Mis- 
sissippi from Tennessee during the year 1860. 

Growing up on the farm in Union county. Lacy obtained a fundamental 
education in the public schools of that section. Moving to new Houlka later 
he attended the high school for two or three years. In the summer he gained 
quite a reputation as a baseball pitcher and batter When he got those lanky 
legs and arms wound up, nobody but Moses could see it as the ball hurtled 
through the batter and into the catcher's mitt. He was there with the smoke 
at every stage of the game, and on time with a cleanup swat when a hit meant 
the winner. . 

Three years ago he finished a commercial course in the city ot Meinphis 
and secured a position immediately. For a short time he worked in the Bank 
of Houlka and then in the Bank of Amory. He is now doing bookkeeping 
work for the Dalrymple Cotton Company of the same town. His work is 
thorough and efficient, commands a good salary and enjoys the trust and 
confidence of his employers. Lacy has a host of friends and they predict 
for him a bright future, and wish for him much success in all ot his undertak- 
ings. He is quiet but friendly— slow but sure. Lacy is a moral young man, 
true to himself and true to his friends. 



RICHARD HARRILL ROCKETT 
Retired Merchant and Farmer. 

much research at home until he has become well-informed and highly familiar 

Sixty-four years ago, on July 21, there was born in a little cottage south- 
east of old Houlka a tiny baby boy whose baptismal decoration was Richard; 
but later was known by everybody on up to the present as Dick liockett. 
His parents were John Baldwin Rockett and Elizabeth May Rockett, both ot 
English ancestry, and pioneers of Mississippi long before the strugg e with 
the North. Having been crippled by an accident when a very small child, 
he was unable to do much manual labor on the farm. The public schools 
near his home afTorded him a good secondary education until he went to the 
luka School in '69 and '70. Besides his study in the schools he has done 
with all the generalities and modern ideas of the world from time ages ago 
to the present civilization. During the days of his youth and on through lite 
he has been engaged in mercantile business and as the manager ot his farms. 
In 1908 he moved with his family to Red Oak, Okla., and there began a 
grocery business of big dimensions, running that successfully until his health 
failed him and he had to sell out and try to regain his former strength. 

On February 8, 1886, he and Miss Bessie Isbell were married for keeps. 
All the Houlka people regretted to see this good lady leave for "turrin lands' 
and also the whole family, nevertheless they left with the good will and 
hi.«h regard of us all. Only two boys have been born into this devoted family, 
Ernest and Warren, both grown men and the joy of their parent's hearts. 

Mr Rockett was formerly a member of the Presbyterians but afterwards 
joined the Methodist Church in Oklahoma. He is also a member of the great 
order of the Masons and was at one time a member of the Knights and Ladies 
of Honor. 

He is a man of honest dealings with his friends and acquaintances, chari- 
table in his gifts to causes of suffering humanity, and true to the teachings 
of the Holy Word. Mr. Rockett has always been an enthusiastic hunter and 



124 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

fisherman, and out there in tlie mountains he enjoys it to his "delightsome 
fancy" all the year round. 

W. ERNEST ROCKETT 
Farmer and Cattleman. 

On November 4th, 1887, when the fields were white with cotton and the 
meadows were curling into hibernation for the coming winter, there was 
born to Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Rockett one "ittle bittumboy" in the wriggling 
person of the future-to-be Ernest Rockett. Growing up on the farm where 
he had to work much and work hard, he developed into a man of strong mind 
and morals — going in the interim to the Houlka schools and acquiring an 
education such as could be given in the higher branches of those good old 
days — days when he and others of his age played ball, mumble-peg, base and 
bullpen to their gladsome delight. With him it was my pleasure to be a desk- 
mate, and he always studied his lessons with faith in his work that has char- 
acterized his life from that time on until now. 

After moving to Red Oak, he began work in the store of his father; but 
later went into the business of farming and stock raising. At this occupa- 
tion he is making a good average success, and lives comfortably in a neat 
cottage just outside the town limits. In 1910, when there was not much 
doing in the excitement line, he decided to bring to a conclusion his affairs 
matrimonially, and on May 10, it was culminated right in front of a preacher 
for the munificent sum of ten bones. His excellent and beautiful wife was 
Miss Lexie Cox, of Wilburton. One child, Richard Gordon, keeps old popper 
Ernest busy playing with him and laughing over his little antics around the 
home. A letter from both he and his wife tell of the country in all of its 
natural beauty, with the Winding Stair Mountains, the wonderful valleys of 
fertile soils and the freedom of the ranges for sports of every kind any man 
could wish for. 

Ernest is a Presbyterian and a Mason. A man of sincere convictions and 
true to his family in all the ways of a genuine gentleman. 

WARREN HARRILL ROCKETT 
Salesman. 

On June 21, the longest day in the year 1888, when the perspiring old earth 
was revolving in the heated rays of a summer's sun, heaven smiled down 
upon a blinking little baby boy and christened him Warren — good old easy- 
go-lucky Grandpa Warren. 

Being born at such "an early age," he learned very soon to chew a good 
sized quid of Schnapps tobacco and expectorate its liquid results in a bee-line 
squirt to a hole twenty-five feet away. Growing older and filled with pone 
bread and sauer kraut, he tickled the loamy nature 'round the old Warren 
Harrill place to the rollicking tunes of "Old Hen Cackle" and "Turkey in the 
Straw." 

The word deliberation is known only to the subject of this sketch. Once 
upon a time, when this grandpa was a young man, it became his painful duty 
to settle a petty grievance in fistic combat with another young man of the 
same age but of perhaps better physical capabilities. With very deliberate 
movements he calmly laid his gold spectacles on a nearby log, adjusted 
a loose shoe string, pulled off a new tie and collar, clamped down on a half 
plug of tobacco, pitched his straw hat to one side, spat upon his palms and 
with a soft Bible word of challenge, he cut loose some long arm punches 
and stifT uppercuts with a precision of machinery that sounded like the 
thunder rumble of a coming storm. With just as much deliberation he put 
his things back in proper place and after straightening out a few bones that 
had been called into the slams and slaps, he whistled his way homeward. 

"Mammy," (Aunt Bet) began the warrior, "You should have seen me put 
the panic to a feller up town while ago; I tell you folkses, that arm may look 
little, but it's some cat when putting fellers to bed." About that time his 



RAD HARRILL REED 125 

mother appears with a long peach tree "pacifier" in her hand and leaves the 
scene after a few applications, with Warren holding a tear bucket in one 
hand and vowing with the other high up in the air that "I'll never do it 
again." 

Being a single man he is not married. Some might think he was too slow 
to come to the point of proposing, but the real reasons may be defined thusly : 

First, it has been his misfortune not to find the fulfillment of his ideal. 
Second, because he is not "old enough." Third, and the real sure-enough 
reason, because he loves his freedom and is not ready to go to war. He 
hopes, though, some day, to find this lady of his dreams and make a happy 
home in the singeing summers and windy winters of Red Oak, Oklahoma. 

Warren's schooling was limited to the Houlka schools, where he used 
his keen perception to advantage in making good grades and keeping in close 
touch with the heads of his classes. Sickness kept him from advancing as 
far as his ambition wished to go. Pneumonia and typhoid fever confined him 
many months, but he came through every time by the careful nursing of his 
father and mother, Richard H. and Bessie Isbell Rockett, also by the timely 
and faithful administrations of the two Dr. Walkers. 

For some years Warren worked on the farm as a steady hand. When the 
brick machinery was put in by R. A. Pulliam at the new town, Warren was 
employed to feed the grinding muddy jaws of the big revolving mixer for 
several months. 

On the 27th day of June, 1908, he left Houlka for Wilburton, Oklahoma. 
Staying there awhile he left for other towns roundabout in search for health. 
Finally he put up his sign at Red Oak, doing a grocery business with his 
father for three years. Since then he has done much active work in the 
Masonic Lodge, gaining quite a reputation in all the immediate towns 'round 
Red Oak. Owing to an impediment in his voice he has had to give up a nice 
position as Masonic lecturer. He knows Masonry to a "T" and his ambition 
is to go some day to the highest pinnacle of the great fraternity. 

He now holds a good position with the largest firm of his home town, and 
is already in line for promotion to more responsible work. Warren's health 
is his only drawback in the way of great success, still he deserves great credit 
for the advancement he has already made and will make in the run of life. 
Everybody knows Warren as a sound, moral, trustworthy gentleman. 



WILLIAM J. STACY 
Cotton Buyer. 

Contemporary with the great siege of Paris in the year 1870, the genial 
"Bill" Stacy was born on June 15th, near the small town of Reid, Calhoun 
county. State of Mississippi. He was a "strictly good sample" of young 
America, and grew up on the farm of his father and mother, Isaiah D. and 
Mary O. Hutchins Stacy, the father of Scotch-Irish and the mother of Dutch 
lineage, until he was equipped to solve the problem of living by his own re- 
sources. 

Until he was 16 years of age he attended the public school at Poplar 
Springs, and then, by good management on the part of his father, he was sent 
to the Pittsboro school for two terms. After that he studied the higher 
branches at Houston, going home between sessions to help make cotton and 
corn. Before his marriage, he went to the Banner school for a part of two 
terms. 

On October 22, 1893, he and Miss Stella E. Hutchinson were "jined" to- 
gether for the better, for with her excellent qualities of womanhood and in- 
dustry, they have lived the life of ideal happiness from that time until now. 
Myrtle, Rufus, Lola and Harry are the children of this devoted family. 

In 1894, Mr. Stacy began work as a salesman in Banner and for eight 
years labored steadily in that capacity. Then in 1902, he went to Nashville, 
Ark., and after three years there, moved to Houlka on January 18, 1905. At 
this place he engaged in the mercantile trade under the firm name of Stacy 



126 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 

Bros. & Stubblefield. For six years this business occupied his time and in 
1911 he sold out his stock to other parties and on November 27th moved with 
family to Houston — just in the outskirts of Houlka! In that town he is 
putting all of his business knowledge and a "few nickels now and then" into 
the buying of cotton for the Beadles Cotton Company. He's Billy-on-the- 
spot and would not fleece a man out of a point or a pound or a dime if he 
knew that he could get away with it. He grapples with the bulls and the 
bears, punches them in the middling with sometimes nominal success and 
sometimes fair — bagging his pants with "profits" and ties his "margins" in 
a bundle of quotations for the future. A cotton man, but all wool and two 
yards wide. Compressed within his body and soul are all the manly traits 
of the manly man; wrapped about his life is the trust in God, and spun about 
his frame is the ambition of "Do all the good I can for my family, friends 
and for suffering humanity." Woven around him is the motto of "Never look 
back," and in the weaving he has cornered the market with his friendliness 
and good will. 

At the age of nineteen he joined the Missionary Baptist Church. When 
he moved to Houlka, the church elected him the superintendent, and in that 
position he served as the teacher of the Bible class with earnest and apprecia- 
tive consideration of the beautiful precepts laid down by the Blessed Son of 
Him who knoweth all things and whose love exceeds the comprehension of 
mortal man. In all the activities of the town he was right there with the 
glad hand. 

Mr. Stacy is a loyal member of the Masonic Lodge and the W, O. W. His 
membership is now' at Houston where he keeps up the good work by punctual 
attendance and by faithful attention to their principles. He is withal a man 
among men. 

FARRIS ALVIN STACY 
Dentist. 

This excellent "tooth yanker" was born way down in Calhoun county at 
the little town of Reid, on January 7, 1884. Few months later his teething 
period was on in full force and before many days had passed he successfully 
erected several little monuments to his credit and to the delight of his 
parents, Isaiah David Stacy and Mary Hutchins Stacy. His father is a native 
of Calhoun and his mother is a native Georgian, moving into Mississippi in 
1859. Their ancestors being of the Dutch and Irish. 

In the rural schools roundabout Reid, Farris received a good common 
school education, limited though to what he wanted to study and what he 
didn't want to study, for in those days a pupil could drag over a second or 
third reader until it wore "slap out." In the meantime, he worked as a 
steady hand on his father's farm. During his boydom he enjoyed the real 
old-fashioned toothache, and then it was, that he determined to be a "tooth 
dentist" and relieve others of their — money. After cutting his wisdom tooth 
or teeth he left for the Louisville College of Dentistry in the fall of 1909. 
Three years of close attention to study and practical work found him ready 
for a diploma in June, 1912. In the summer months of 1910-11, he did dental 
work at Houlka to help pay tuition at Louisville, Kentucky. 

All of a sudden, possibly a little "suddener," he was married to Miss Dan- 
nie Anderson, a very beautiful and charming young lady of Pontotoc county, 
on December 30, 1911. She finished a little school she was teaching up in the 
red hills of her home, while Farris finished his course at Louisville. 

Doctor Stacy moved to the hustling town of Oakland, Mississippi, in the 
summer of 1912 and began a permanent and lucrative practice of his chosen 
profession. Reports come from that town telling of his success as a "tooth 
carpenter," and as a man worthy of any trust that might be bestowed upon 
him. There is much "false" work about his dental surgery; still he guaran- 
tees it and his patients cash-up satisfied. 

Farris is a Woodman of the World and a member of the Psi Omega Dental 
Fraternity of the Louisville Dental College, an organization that promotes 
friendship and advancement among the graduates of that school. 



RAD HARRILL REED 127 

His ambition is to be one of the best dentists, in equipment and skill, in 
the State of Mississippi. Every day finds him on the job, grinding away on 
somebody's repulsive fangs. He gets on to other people's nerves sometimes, 
and, gee-whizzikin ! how it hurts the-er-er-the dentist! Sometimes he meets 
with a clean mouth and other times otherwise. Some teeth seem to have no 
bottom, others hook their triple rooted fangs around the collar bone and 
retire for life. One or tw^o caverns he has met with caused him to use up 
three sacks of Portland cement and then had room to lay in or inlay some 
more. He has many experiences with different people among his patients and 
he sees always the funny side of everything. 

He is careful, cleanly, sanitary. His office is a model of neatness and 
his instruments are kept in good sterilized condition from patient to patient. 

Farris is an affable, genteel gentleman. Pleasing in manner and in con- 
versation — smiling of face and a cheery "hello" for everybody. He is indeed 
a self-made young dentist — always pulling to attain an end and by this char- 
acteristic, although in the mouth of adversity, he has filled the bill. 



DOYLE STUBBLEFIELD 
Dentist. 

More than forty thousand Doctors of Dental Surgery were grinding into 
the very soul of more than forty thousand teeth, burring down and down 
into more than forty thousand pocket books for the twice-times-thrice amount 
of forty thousand bones. Outlays of gold were made into inlays of gold when 
the wily Taggart tipped off the process that revolutionized Dento-facial Or- 
thopedia, or to be more dignified, the filling of a bum tooth with molten scraps 
of gold that had been extracted from the pearly pits of the other fellow's 
thirty-two aching monuments. These dental architects were drawing molars 
and money, played on the ivories with their whirring engines to the tooth's 
contents and everyone of them had a nerve to pull the most obstinate snaggle 
or the purse-strings of the national chewers association with absolutely "no 
pain." Everybody wanted a headlight of Klondyke construction, or a beauti- 
ful bridge to span the cavernous cavities in their bicuspids, canines and 
incisors, regardless of the cost. Inlays were laid to rest with all the crown- 
ing glory of impressive dental science and the patients settled calmly back 
in the five-hundred-dollar plush chair and murmured, "Can I See Any 
Stars In My Crown?" Before the proficient prophylactist or the old ortho- 
dontist (my what an ache!) could finish the anchoring of the gold mine 
into their mouth, they had seen a thousand stars and every point had a 
pain that whizzed thru the nerves until they were withered wrecks of wit 
and wad. 

Now it came to pass that the profession was not complete — a large void 
in their ranks must be filled. Then came Doyle Stubblefield, the greatest 
of them all, on November 7, 1886, in the town of Banner, Mississippi. Here 
was then the man to fill the bill, and his father and mother, George W. and 
Virginia Ellen Freeman Stubblefield, who are of Scotch-Irish lineage or 
extraction, sent him to the Banner High School when he was of school age 
and then to the Sarepta Normal for more knowledge of the classics in 
science and in English masterpieces. 

In all of his classes he was the leader and his grasp of the intricacies 
in the deeper works of the master minds of mediaeval and modern men, 
marvelled the multitude for many miles around. Then he came with the 
family to Houlka and became the manager of the Houlka Drug Company. 

From that position he entered into the first year of fundamental dental 
training at the Louisville College of Dentistry and after two years of faith- 
ful work passed the State Board of Mississippi wdth second honors, the 
first man being a graduate of the above institution. What a grade he would 
have made if he had only finished his third year and then tried the Board! 
In the Summer he practiced his profession in the mouth of Houlka and 
vicinity and then in 1913 graduated, on May 29th, with special honors. 
Immediately upon his return to Houlka he began the full-fillment of his life 



128 H O U L K A Y K S T K R DAY TOD A Y 

work. In a neat and well fitted ofTice in the rear of the bank he ground 
and pulled his way into the very "hearts" of the people with his gentle- 
manly manner and cautious attention to every little ache developed by 
chewing too many toothsome "oats." Everybody thought there was no man 
but Doyle who could comi)letoly fill their expectation and they and "us" 
still think so. He could give them a "falsetto teeth" with all the ease of the 
greatest dentist and they had a fit, too. 

His ambition is to stand at the head of his profession, and he is fast 
drawing to that end, for he lives and works in the motto of "Do the right 
thing in every particular." Doctor Doyle is a liai)tist, a Mason and a 
member of Psi Omega Greek Letter Fraternity. In fall of '13, he bought 
the oll'ice lixtures of Dr. Smith at Houston and is now ([uieting the aches 
and eagles of those good people with much skill and success. 



ROBERT LUKE THOMPSON 
Dentist. 

"Bob" Thompson was born, as he puts it, m the nineteenth century, in 
a log house two miles west of old Houlka. His parents, James Thomas and 
Cornelia DeLashmet Thompson, were of English and French descent, their 
ancestors moving inio "Ole iMiss" long before the war. 

Thru Houlka High School was his lirst step toward a course at A. and M. 
later on. Then he went to Macon, Ga., and completed a business education 
in one of the well known commercial colleges. Before going to Atlanta 
to study dentistry, he taught school in the town of old Houlka and in Cal- 
houn (>()unty. In .lune, 1905, he secured his lirst license to i)ractice his 
profession, beginning in Houlka before he went to Wynne, Ark., for per- 
manent work. There he has been since 1907 doing satisfactory work under 
the firm name of Crain & Thompson. His business keeps him at work 
both night and day, building bridges, making plates, <|uieting nerves, laying 
cement and concrete walks and doing other scallolding uj) and around the 
roof of the mouth. He is gaining quite a reputation as an expert dentist, 
doing much delicate work by the most modern method known to the men 
of "push and pull." Neat in his work and appearance, accurate in every 
little detail, and highly regarded as one of the best in the Association of 
Dentists in his district. 

Doctor Thompson is a Baptist and at one time was Secretary and Treas- 
urer of the Houlka Sunday School. Working on the farm was his "chief 
delight" all thru his teens. The dinner horn always rang too "early," 
night came too (juick and the sun rose too late to do a good day's work. His 
letter was very interesting and from it I have gathered quite a few funny 
incidents of his life. 

First impressions last always, and his first real one was hunting a guinea 
nest and jumping from a fence on to a jilank with two big nails sticking 
innocently upward. Thru his foot ran those nails and from his eyes ran 
tears larger than the eggs he had just found when he jumped in all ecstasies 
and enthusiasms down to examine the contents closer. Wails and suppli- 
cations went homeward and before assistance could arrive he thought his 
appointed time had surely come. 

Another impression was eating an Indian turnip with the "big boys." 
Some more wails was the result. Then came a time when he was doing 
about three chills per week. All the family had gone to church in old 
Houlka. Being of an inclination to know tlie inside of things, how they 
were put together and how taken to |)ieces. he mounted a chair and with 
one long reach and a grunt he grasped his father's watch and at once pro- 
ceeded to see where its appendix i\nd oblongata were located. After every 
piece was out, he realized that he needed help in i)utting them in again. 
Putting the watch aside, he innnedialely had the most convenient chill of 
his life. His father advised a good whii)ping; but his good mother had 
the matter i)ostponed indefinitely. Quoting verbatim: 



RAD HARRILL REED 129 

"Mother understood that the inisdeineanor was caused Ihru curiosity 
and not from downright meanness. She most always understood and was 
always my best friend. Wliatever success I may have attained, I give 
her more credit than I take unto myself because of her faithful training 
and patience." 

That is a noble sentiment and it is true in so many of the cases in this 
book. About this time he wanted an education, more than he could get 
in walking two miles morning and afternoon lo the school at Houlka. Just 
then his father died and left him without a hope for the education he so 
eagerly sought. Things moved about the same, with his eldei- brother, John 
Sele3% as his adviser and helper in many things. Advertising lileratiue from 
a business college fell into his hands and he quickly fell to the fact that a 
$50 job was awaiting him somewhere. With a salary like that he would 
become rich, if not wealthy. Packing up his duds, he drove sixteen miles 
to a railroad, bound for Macon, Ga. Never had he ridden on a train. Won- 
ders began. Had to stoj) over in Montgomery, Ala., and was at once sur- 
rounded by "cab, mister" and "hotel, sir." There was some "trick" about 
those cabs, so he walked to the hotel "on foot." A hotel appeared with a 
bufTet attachment and somehow he couldn't go in. After walking up and 
down the front of it for several times, he at last went in and registered. 
The clerk called a porter to show him up to room. Now, Robert Luke had 
never seen an elevator. When the porter had closed them up and they 
went scooting upward. Bob felt he was (Iropi)ing and (fuickly unfastened his 
gallon bucket grip for immediate use of his pop-gun. There was a trick some- 
where and he was sure to get the trickster. When the lloor was reached and 
the porter called "all right," liob could only "all right what?" Finally he was 
shown to his room and left to think over his first ride on a train and an 
elevator. 

He never realized anything from his course except experience and thinks 
it worth the money spent. In all of his life. Doctor Bob has been a moral, 
clear-cut gentleman. His ambition morally is, "To live a life consistent with 
the profession of Christianity." As regards his i)rofession it is, "To be of 
service to humanity and to prosper," His motto is one of the best that 
can be chosen from anywhere and that is Channing's Symphony. He makes 
no pretense of having attained its teachings; but places it on his desk where 
he can see it every day, even if he can only touch it in places. 

Everybody in Houlka knows "Bob" as a true Christian, hard working 
man. 

BENJAMIN AQUILLA THOMPSON 
Clerk and Foreman 

On August 31, 1883, when cotton was in the bloom and the watermelon 
on the vine; when the twilight of evening had fallen into the dusky darkness 
of inky night, and when the rounded cheese of the oriental creamery had 
shot across the sky until it hung directly over Houlka, the man in the middle 
beamed a golden smile down into the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Thomp- 
son in recognition of their new little son, "Ben." 

When old enough to work on the farm, he applied himself with all the 
vim and vigor of growing manhood, going to the Houlka school two miles 
east during a few months of each winter. There he gained a good common 
school training and cou])le(l wilh the practical education drawn from the 
world's greatest text book, human nature, he has come into a well-infoi-med 
man of the business problems of the day, and wilh this he is equipped to 
carry out his ambition of "Own a home and be prominent in business," 
along with his motto of "Honesty is the best policy." 

In 1903 he left for Texas and began working for the M. K. & T. R. R. 
As a Pullman car conductor he worked faithfully for several months until 
he gave that up to work at another jjosition in the city of Memphis. In 
Memphis he has lived almost his whole time since leaving home and now 
is employed by a large firm in that city as clerk and foreman. During the 
baseball season he is connected with the Turtles as manager of the ticket 



130 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

and grandstand departments, looking after the gate receipts and the order of 
the seats and diamond. 

Ben is a member of the Baptist Church and of the Masonic Lodge. Is 
not married but keeps his lamps peeled for the ideal of his dreams, one 
who knows how to cook, sew, dress neatly and keep a spick and span home. 
She is somewhere and Ben will one day find her and if she agrees to settle 
the difficulty, so shall it be. Ben is some "humdinger" when it comes to 
lady killing, for he can do the eye-roll and the winkum business to the 
tune of tangotamale with all the ease of a Fifth Avenue swell. 

When he is your friend he's your friend for keeps and will do anything 
under the twinkling stars he can do. Will go out of his way to help those in 
distress or do a favor for you if you ask it. A gentleman is Ben from his 
noggin to his toes. 

ROBERT BRAXTON WALDROP 
Merchant and Banker 

The time was October 12, forty years ago. The place was three miles 
north of Houston in a neat little cottage of log and plank and the boy was 
Braxton Waldrop. His father, Joseph Smith Waldrop, and his mother, 
Mildred Linzey Phillips Waldrop, were of Scotch-Irish ancestry — the former 
being a native of Mississippi and the latter a native of South Carolina. 

Braxton attended the common schools of Chickasaw until he was twenty 
and then for a short time took a commercial course in a business college of 
Nashville. The rest of his education was gotten by diligent study at home, 
burning old Standard Oil for all it was worth into the midnight hours. All 
of his spare time was spent in familiarizing himself with the higher texts 
of college courses and in that way he secured an education that has mater- 
ially helped him thru many trials in connection with the County Superin- 
tendency. 

In 1893, he began work as a teacher in the public schools of his native 
county and for five years discharged his duties to the pleasure of all his 
patrons and pupils. Each year his reputation grew into larger proportions 
and in 1900 his popularity with the voters of Chickasaw elected him to the 
office of County Superintendent of Education. His margin was 300 votes 
over a very strong man in the race. Serving the term out efficiently and 
successfully, he entered two more terms without opposition. In 1911, when 
politics was red-hot, he again ran for the same office against Mr. George 
D. Riley and was defeated by 275 votes. 

The ten and one-half years that he served in this capacity showed a 
remarkable development of the school system. He personally looked after 
every detail of the work with much zeal and patience, instilling a desire 
in the minds of every teacher to become more proficient and to use more 
modern methods than they had heretofore been accustomed to in the gen- 
eral exercises of class work. Schools flourished, better salaries were given 
to the teachers, better houses were builded and longer terms of free school 
established. Education progressed by leaps and bounds and the results of 
his administration show very plainly in the statistics of the State that Chick- 
asaw was on a much higher plane than it had been in all the history of the 
county. The percentage of the illiterate decreased rapidly and every year the 
enrollment of educable children increasd by hundreds. 

September 17, 1899, Mr. Waldrop was married to Miss Annie Fisher 
Harris, a lady of splendid character and the very one to make him a happy 
home, and the proud mother of Robert Arthur and Annie F'isher, the only 
children of this devoted couple. 

Mr. Waldrop is a Methodist, a Woodman, member tribe of Red Men, 
Mason and a recent traveler thru the hot sands of the mysterious Mystic 
Shrine. 

He is now interested in the mercantile and banking business and can 
be found in the drug store of Ritter & Co. selling Fletcher's Castoria and 
Lydia E. Pinkham's "Pale Pellets for Pink People" at Houston, Mississippi — 
a growing suburb of Houlka, 



RAD HARRILL REED 131 



Brax or Brack, as many of his Houlka friends call him, is a real selfraade 
man, generous, hopeful, sympathetic, kind. He estimates no man except 
thru his o\\n experience, and then he forbears to pass judgment until he is 
sure of his facts. He has achieved by endurance — triumphed by persever- 
ance — lives according to the manner of men — thinks and sees and feels the 
joys of a Christian life. 

JOHN MOFFATT WALKER 

Insurance and Real Estate 

Statistics show that John M. Walker adjusted himself in the happy home 
of William L. and Jeannette E. Moffatt Walker on January 22, 1865. We 
also have the "sweet assurance" that he has not lapsed, discontinued or ex- 
pired since that time. His policy is an allotted seventy years with an assess- 
ment payable daily of right living and good will to man. He made the 
contract— paid the premium that must come always to be insured in the 
hearts of men, and is now on the list of "old liners" who have mutually grown 
beyond the hilltop of life and are now living on the surplus and dividends 
that were secured as a reserve for the maximum joys in the closing years 
of their masterful maturity. Not that he is an old man, by any means — just 
to see him with an amalgamated suit of clothes and the Mutual and Equitable 
smile that reads face value every minute in the day, and that fluctuating 
twinkle of his eyes when he greets you — well, he's about the "youthfulest 
young youth" that ever signed his name as an underwriter. 

Mr. Walker participated in the exercises of the Houston High School 
and was examined both mentally and physically during the terms he attended. 
"Loading" was his long suit and his rating ran high in the "minimum" 
grades of the school. But occasionally he took a spurt and made himself 
good security of a great fund of useful knowledege — the income from that 
study making a capital sum in the general run of universal problems and 
w^hich has been good policy to increase by daily payments of thoughts 
worth thinking and ideas worth reason. So his personal property increased 
many fold in brain percentage and his capabilities ran far beyond par in 
the standard measure of the Twentieth Century. 

When he had reached the "age of accountability" — about twenty-two of 
them — his interest in the ladies grew into quite a lump sum of love. Par- 
tial payments of visits came so fast that the ladies didn't have time to get 
their "ligger" in good shape, but they bustled about and risked the rest, 
for Young John was in the parlor thinking up fidelity chinning and whether 
he would ask the lady could she cook a Premium ham or compensate him 
with enough industry about the house if he should decide to turn over 
his life insurance in her name. He put in his application four or five times 
before Miss Maggie Shell claimed its acceptance and on December 30, 1887, 
that most excellent lady became the wife of happy John Moffatt Walker, 
until the old mortality agent claims his own. Only two children have been 
born to this devoted union, Wales L. and Margrette Shell. 

In the insurance and real estate business, he has succeeded. With his 
undaunted energy it was due him to succeed. Today he is considered 
one among the most prominent insurance men or underwriters in the state 
of Mississippi. He knows his business too, and that is the essential of all 
success. From the beginning of Marine insurance and then for Widows 
and Orphans in England about 1699, he can tell its history just as easy as he 
can write a policy and sell a lot. 

He does a good business in the town of Houston where he has lived since 
moving from Houlka many years ago. In policies, he can fire you, storm 
at you, flood you with expert knowledge, accidentally makes you sign and 
there you are— insured from Helena to breakfast. Will rent anything, any- 
where, even his clothes. His life is one of ardent love for his friends and 
family — genial and pleasant and a man who sticketh closer than a brother, 
yea even a porous plaster. Indeed a man of help to the poor and needy — 
a big heart and purse for them all. 



132 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 

Mr. Walker is a Methodist, a Mason, Shriner and W. O. W. "Honesty 
is the best policy," is his motto and possibly his ambition is a hope that his 
policy holders will never die. 

CURTIS REID WALKER 
Optometrist. 

Three miles east of Houlka, on August 9, ltS72, Curt Walker sighted the first 
parents he ever had. After much blinking and twinking, squinting and glint- 
ing, he recognized the family and settled back on the pillow in a calm reali- 
zation of the important event. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Walker, 
never saw a better-looking specimen of roly-poly humanity; he was a spec- 
tacle that the people for miles around came to view with loving eyes and a 
snuffy kiss on his beautiful brow. Lachrymal effusions effused effusively 
while he was afflicted to all this limelight and with a big yell he told them 
to douse the calcium and take a slant at something else. 

After many days he adjusted his eyes to the busy world about him and not 
the most minute object came into his vision that he didn't lamp it with 
the best focus he could bring to play upon the panorama. Every ray of 
light from the sun, every beam and every optical illusion of his boyhood, 
in their rellections and refractions, convergent and divergent, made an 
impression upon the retina of his eyes and being transformed to his brain 
thru the optic nerve, developed in him the science of Ophthalmics and a great 
desire to help the people "see' the happy and wonderful things of life. 

At the Mississippi Normal College of Houston, he gained a good school 
education and making for himself the name of a far-sighted and an all- 
round pupil. In the school room the defective eyesight of the students, or 
to be dignified like Curt can "spread on" when talking in "specs," known 
as Astigmatism, impressed Doctor "Optokon" Walker with an inspiration 
of remedial and immediate attention upon the part of the patrons and health 
officials. Statistics show an awful lack of eye testing and necessary pre- 
ventive for this dread disease. Anyhow, the paralysis of the eye is exactly 
a twin to your pocket book. So Curt hiked to the hedges and valleys of the 
country and made cross-eyes straight and straight eyes stronger. "Ten 
bones per each" was not a sad sight any way you look at it and now he is 
at Fulton making every peep count. 

In 1890 he began work in a drug store in Atlanta, Ga., and since that 
time has traveled over many of the states in the picture business for a 
big Northern firm. From that he took up the study of Optometry and has 
made a success from the very start. He's got the nerve, the object in 
view and the function of winning. 

In 1905, Miss Maggie Louise Martin, a very refined lady and Christian 
character, became his happy wife for thick or thin, or "I will and he wilted." 
Only two children have blessed this union, Winfield L. (deceased), and 
John Martin. 

He is a Methodist and a Mason and lives the ambition of "To provide 
something for my family." A good man, a gentleman. 

GARRETT LAFAYETTE WALKER 
Optician 

Once upon a time, way back in the pyramidal period of ancient history, 
a "young baby was born." Other babies were born, too, but none in all 
that land were so beautiful as young "Cap" Walker. The great pyramids 
looked down upon him and beheld the one and only certified wonder of the 
world. He grew and prospered and builded for himself a huge monument 
out of thousands of crossties, hewed in the land of the Sahara and construct- 
ed with a mathematical precision that only the true weather-eye of "Cap" 
could accomplish with the arithmetic of those centuries dead ago. It is the 
greatest engineering feat the world has ever known and nobody to this day 
knows the secret of his success but the Sphinx and "Cap" himself. A 
riddle that will never be solved so long as this big genius shall live. 



RAD HARRILL REED 133 



When he tired of all this fame, a new thought struck him— a thing that 
would have wrecked the average man's brain, but not the wonderful Cap's. 
So he turns an astronomical eye toward the mirages and sandstorms of the 
Egyptian country and decides on a very "speck-tacular" object. 

"Ah, but I'll be an optician, an optometrist, an eye operator— ay, ay, 
sir, the eyes of these deserted people need to be re-visioned. The glass 
peepers worn here are fakes, they ruin the cornucopia of their cosmopolitan 
and cause a balled-up condition of their sockets. Ah, me! I can fittem. 
A pebbled lens and a glass rim at ten bones per— ah, we can coin the spon- 
dulix! If my mother could only see me now." 

Early next morning, "The Egyptian Enterprise" came out with a big 
box-car type advertisement of Cap's great microscopic, philosophic and Oliver 
Optic sight-seers. The patients poured in and it wasn't long before Cap's 
assortment was almost depleted. Everybody's eyes were wrong, everybody 
must have store fronts and together with the smooth memorized spiel and 
the low price of ten bucks per look, everybody bought and went then- 
wobbly way seeing sights. He made money and is making money still. 
Today he can write a check for a bean and a half and then have a bank 
account of six bits left. Cap was some eye opener in those days and really 
he was the direct cause of Pharoah seeing so many locusts, frogs and vermin 
thru a seven-cent glass and a ninety-eight cent frame. He had those country 
people seeing more visions and impossible things than the world has ever 
known. The glasses of "Cap" enabled Moses to see the promised land 
and helped Caesar cast his die across the Rubicon. If Jacob had been sup- 
plied with some of Cap's extra guaranteed windows, he would have seen 
thru Laban's plot and likewise the brothers of Joseph would have known 
him when they first peeled their blinks in the land of famine. The Sphinx 
to this day wears the largest and costliest pair of specks that Cap has ever 
fitted in all of his wide experiences. Other "Optikons" had tried and failed. 
Cap was the man to deliver the goods. 

The eloquence, the business manner, the earnest appeal and the wonder- 
ful spiels of Honorable Garrett Lafayette Walker, son of William L. and 
Janet Elizabeth Moffatt Walker, won for him the love of Miss Alma McCord, 
a lady of refined character and many accomplishments. They were married 
on December 4, 1904, at Houston. There are three living children who make 
"Poppy Cap" and "Mommy Cap" mighty happy in their cozy little home. 

There is only one Cap Walker— there will never be another. Quaint, 
original, unique Cap. Big-hearted, kind, lovable. He is a Methodist, :Mason, 
W. O. W., Tribe of Red Men and member Retail Clerks Union. 

Cap is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his people moving into Mississippi from 
Alabama and Georgia way back in the thirties. He attended the schools 
of Houlka and Houston until he was old enough to hit the trail for his lone- 
some. His first real work was in Houston, after his parents had moved to 
that place from the Walker farm southeast of Houlka, now the home of 
J. W. Hamilton. Cap's ambition is to be successful in life and loyal to 
his fellowman. "Onward and upward," is his motto. Quoting a part of 
his letter he says: "Beginning life with the dawn of the year 1878, I have 
made a steady march thru a jungle of thorns and a garden of roses. Some- 
times the bitter cup has been sweetened— at others it has overflown. I mar- 
ried when young; sallied forth on the sea of matrimony and have had a ten- 
year sail w'ith the finest of weather and the sweetest of mates." 

Everybody likes Cap. He's friendly, social, good-natured and always 
busy. Never too busy though to help a friend in need. Lastly, he is a man 
who does not adhere to the saying that number one comes first. 

SAMUEL SIDNEY WALKER 
Pharmacist. 

Solemn Sid— timid Sidney— gloomy Samuel— grumpy Sam Sid, and re- 
served Samuel Sidney was born on May 23, 1891. His progenitors. Doctor 
and Mrs. W. C. Walker, wondered at such a quiet human in their family; 



134 HOULK A YESTERDAY TOD AY 

his brothers had been expert artists with the vocal chord and happy smiles, 
but here ^Yas Sid the silent, Sid the submissive, Sid the serene, the Sphinx, 
the serious, the sad and sedate Sid, somber, sorrowful, sluggish Sidney. 
Why wouldn't their son shine? The nature of the Walkers had gone wrong 
someway; blood w^asn't running true to life. 

After much "consulshun" with doctor-books and psychological authorities, 
Dr. Walker decided to "go-at" the renovation of that boy's silence and morose- 
ness. In Schooner bottom were two goats, laden with the best Hoyt's per- 
fume that could be bought at that time. The owner gave them as payment 
for "Doctor Bill" and they were brought to the glum kiddy at home, and 
at first he didn't take to their "odoriferous fragrancy" with any happiness 
whatever. But somebody got fooled — that same Sam Sidney butted into the 
world of sunshine and smiles in two days and before three kicks and a jump 
he was the brightest whooping whizzer that ever whizzed in Houlka. He was 
Sid the sizzler, the scenic wonder of the town; smiles "smole" all over his 
face and he rode those goats from roof to treetops and from Lizzard Lope to 
Possum Trot like a whirlwind on fire at both ends. His picture, astride one 
of those goats, is an old album near me and if ever a boy looked happier, 
seated on the concrete backbone of a goat — well, he is yet to be born. From 
that day, Sid has been the j oiliest, most good-natured, quick-witted, happiest 
and most pleasant young man that Houlka has produced in a long time. At 
repartee with anybody, he is Sidney who can come across. Jokes are his 
delight and he can deliver the goods any time and anywhere. If he fails 
to come back at you w'ith a better one than you sent, I'll "settum up to the 
soda fount." 

Sid's early education was obtained in the old Houlka schools and from 
the classroom he went to work in the Houlka Drug Company at the age 
of twelve. In this capacity Sid found his vocation in life and he has naturally 
grown into the pharmaceutical business with eagerness to learn more of 
its scientific principles and its fundamental applications to the chronic com- 
plaints of a gullible public. What he doesn't know about medicine — the 
Pharmacopoeia or Materia Medica supplies. Believe you, he's some pharma- 
ceutist. Listen at him: 

"Who's this camphor?" Sid looks at the bonehead waiting for the pre- 
scription and finally hears an answer of "Whud ud yer say?" with a mingled 
feeling of pestling his mortar box with a punch to the right and a dose of 
wood alcohol. That is a mere sample package and a rather weak solution. 
Hear him sometimes juggle his funny-bone with wit and wisdom and be 
satisfied with a laugh that will burst your face into happiness and split your 
side with joy. 

Sid is a Methodist and M. W. of A. Holds the big ticket to funny land 
and carries the grip of the mighty mitten wherever he goes. Sid is the 
motto of "Let cheerfulness abound with industry," and the ambition of 
"If there be some weaker one, give me strength to help him on." 

He is now working with E. P. Wilson in Houston, having worked in the 
Bitter Pharmacy for several months before taking his present position. 
He "compounds" a good salary and has the entire confidence of every citizen 
Chickasaw County can claim. That's some few, but everybody knows Sid. 
We can't help it — we love him and he loves us. 

JAMES FRANKLIN WEEKS 
Assessor Pontotoc County 

When Houlka waked into the morning of December 10th, 1877, another 
little visitor made his debut in the home of James Weeks and Frances 
Bowles Weeks, and immediately had the family to inscribe the name of 
James Franklin in the middle of the Bible, raising the property of the 
happy father and mother to the valuation of a million dollars. 

His parents, both of English descent and born in Mississippi, were of 
limited means and when James Franklin was old enough to work on the 
farm, after the family had moved to Gershorm, four miles north of Houlka, 



RAD HARRILL REED 135 



in 1878, he applied himself diligently and with midnight oil as his lonesome 
companion fmished the prescribed courses in Cooper Institute, Troy, Algoma, 
Houlka and Houston. It was far from easy sailing for he had to work his 
way thru them all. Tenacity of purpose, a will of strong determination, 
encouragement from a few of his friends to keep on, and the enthusiasm 
he had for the learned lore of ages gone forever, were all great helps to mould 
his future into work well done. From the first of his schooling he followed 
the ambition of his soul : "To be the greatest possible use to mankind," and 
in all of his career the motto of, "Striving Upward" has been his daily 
thought and action. 

When he was only nineteen he began teaching in the public schools of 
Pontotoc County and for fifteen years instructed the youth of that section 
with much credit to himself and to the delight and praise of all the patrons 
and pupils. 

Then he became interested in politics and announced for tax assessor. 
Many of the students he had taught back in his school days were now ready 
to vote for him and did so to the tune of a big majority over four opponents. 
Altogether, his assessments are fair, showing good judgment and knowledge 
of property values. Besides this office of responsibility, he makes a good 
crop every year to help along the high cost of living. Not to raise it; but 
raze it every way he can. Frank is a quiet, easy going man. Friendly, mem- 
ber of church and W. O. W. 

March 13, 1904, he was married to Miss Viola Stacy, a lady of splendid 
character and accomplishments, just the wife for deserving Frank. Three 
children, Gravett, Talmage and Mary Frances, are the happiness and pleasures 
of this loval couple. In his rounds of the county, he finds many, (just like 
his brethren find in other counties), people who persist in singing, or at least 
hum in some way, the old song : "I Love To Tell a Story." Then comes, "For 
My House Is Worth Nothing Less" than exemption rates. He has all kinds 
of people to deal with— good people— some not so good and others very 
provoking to extreme misrepresentation. 

DAVIS LEROY WELDON 
Teacher of Farm Mechanics and Animal Husbandry 

A letter from a lady in Brunswick, Tennessee, who signs herself as Kate 
L. Nichols, came to me, enclosing a nicely written sketch of Leroy Weldon. 
Quoting a few sentences from her interesting letter: 

"I am sending a delayed sketch of our friend, Mr. Weldon, for your 
request really deserved a^ prompt reply and Mr. Weldon is a worthy sub- 
ject, too. 

"If God had given me a son like Leroy I would be a happy woman. I am 
glad that he is receiving recognition while he is young and ambitious, 
for appreciation is such a stimulus to young people. I wish I could tell 
you with glowing words how he is beloved by his co-laborers and how his 
work excites the admiration of us all." 

The following is the life story which the kind lady sent me : 

"Eight miles southeast of Houlka, on the Houston and Okolona road, 
there was born on August 15, 1891, a youth destined to be known among 
men before he was twenty-five. Davis Leroy Weldon, son of James Whit- 
field and Ellen Matilda Flaherty Weldon, is of Scotch-Irish descent. With 
those who first blazed the trail his ancestors came across the mountains from 
South Carolina and drifted down to Mississippi where they left their im- 
press for honor and integrity in every community that they ever lived in. 

"Losing his mother early in life, later his father, Leroy was reared by 
an aunt, Mrs. Mosely, who threw around him the best influences. 

"He received early instruction in the Marion school, near Houlka, until 
at the age of sixteen, he entered the preparatory department at Mississippi 
A. and M. There he took a four-year course, graduating with Bachelor of 
Science Degree. 



136 H O U L K A YESTERDAY TOD A Y 

"In 1912 he entered the employ of B. H. Bull & Son, exporters and breed- 
ers of pure-bred Jersey cattle, Bramton, Ontario. 'Mid those vast herds of 
surging cattle, afar off on the shores of the Great Lakes, 'mid summer's 
shine and winter's blast, mingling with French-Canadian, Indian, Scotch and 
English, there came to him — still a boy in years — an experience richer and 
more varied than come to many men in a long life-time. 

"On this trip he visited the cities of St. Louis, Chicago, (where he attended 
the National Dairy Show) ; two weeks in Toronto, at the Canadian National 
Exhibition; across the wild, unsettled regions of Ontario, between the cities 
of Toronto and Winnipeg, traveling hundreds of miles without seeing a 
dozen English-speaking people. From Winnipeg westward across the fer- 
tile provinces of iSIanitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, emerging from the 
Great Western plains at the city of Calgary, making minor stops at Regina, 
Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat. From Calgary he pushed on to the foot-hili 
countrj'^ and across the mighty Rockies. There he viewed lakes fifteen feet 
in depth and clear as crystal, so clear that the smallest pebble might be seen 
perfectly at the bottom. He followed the Crow's Nest Pass on the Canadian 
and Pacific Railroad. The first stop on the coast was New Westminster, a 
suburb of Vancouver, where a week was spent very profitably at an agri- 
cultural show. Thence on to a Provincial Fair at Victoria. The return trip, 
across the continent, was made in the early part of October; just as the 
Great Northern plain was receiving its first layer of the great white blanket. 

"Teacher of Farm Mechanics in Bolton College Agricultural-High School 
during the spring of 1913, he accepted the position of Assistant Agriculturist 
and teacher of Animal Husbandry for the full term of 1913 and 1911. 

"His connection now with one of the best known and best equipped in- 
stitutions in the South is but a well-deserved recognition of merit and ability. 

"He is a young man of splendid promise, whose ambition is to attain the 
highest and best, and to incite others to seek the upward path." 

All the Houlka people know Leroy as a model young man, moral, lovable. 
Never did anybody say wrong of him. Working his way from the very 
start, he has accomplished that which comes to those who persevere. A 
true and loyal member of the Church, a trustworthy gentleman. A man \vho 
doesn't trouble trouble and attends to that business which concerns himself 
and not the business of the other fellow. 

Just twenty-eight miles by turnpike out from Memphis is Ihe place of his 
work. From this work, no doubt, he will go higher in the ranks of his chosen 
profession. 

JOSHUA RICE WILLIAMS 
Physician and Surgeon 

Two years after the Civil War, August 3, 1867, J. R. Williams was born 
'midst the hills and valleys of old Red Land, four and one-half miles north 
of Houlka. Oliver Williams, his father, moved into Mississippi from Tennes- 
see. Regina Cockrell Williams, his mother, came from South Carolina. 
Both are of pure Anglo-Saxon origin. 

Rice, as his Houlka friends know him, was one of the older children 
in a large family of nine. Reared on a farm it was his "pleasure" to hoe 
the corn and chop the cotton along with the rest of the boys. Old man Am- 
bition came along one day while young Rice was grubbing sprouts and left 
a little note of Opportunity. He seized it with both hands and immediately 
hurried off to College. In the year 1894, he was graduated from the Uni- 
versity of Tennessee. In 1896, he completed the medical course at the Uni- 
versity of Nashville, receiving high honors and being chosen as president 
of his class. 

During the vacation months between 1893 and 1896, he practiced medi- 
cine in old Houlka with Doctor W. C. Walker as the senior partner. Going 
day and night he gained much valuable experience that enabled him to 
keep abreast with the great and wonderful progress of the medical fraternity. 



R AD H ARRILL REED 137 



November 26, 1896, Doctor Rice ^Yas happily married to Miss Nona Hob- 
son, an excellent young lady of old Houlka. Felix T. and Regina Williams 
are the two children of this union. Some few years ago his wife died after 
a severe illness of several months duration. 

Doctor Williams is well known in the Masonic work of Mississippi. He 
has served his home lodge at Houston as Worshipful Master for a number of 
years and was elected Grand Master of Masons for the year 1911, a position 
of high honor, demanding brilliancy and perfect working knowledge of all 
the great principles of Masonry. He was the ready man for the place and 
filled it with the entire satisfaction of all the Mississippi Masons and with 
much credit to himself. 

He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, a Mystic Shriner, Odd Fellow, 
Knights of the Maccabees, Knights and Ladies of Honor, Knights of Pythias, 
Woodmen of the World, Woodmen Circle and Order of the Eastern Star. In 
them all he is a punctual, faithful member. 

Doctor Rice does a big practice in the town of Houston and in the country 
adjacent. Enjoys the esteem and confidence of all his fellow men and is 
what the world calls a most successful man. Consistency, continuity of things 
undertaken and the spirit of keep-on-keeping-on has been the record of his 
life from his 'teens to mature manhood. 

His ambition now is "to leave the world better than he found it." He has 
a unique motto that more people should think about in their daily lives, and 
not only think it but put it in practice: "It is easier to do anything right than 
to explain why you did it wrong." 

JAMES LAFAYETTE WILLIAMS 
County Prosecuting Attorney. 

Know all men by these presents, that the above-mentioned James L. Wil- 
liams, alias "Jim," was born on November 9, 1877, in the domicile of Mr. and 
Mrs. Oliver Williams, in the County of Pontotoc, State of Mississippi, United 
States of America. Be it further spread over this sketch that the aforesaid, 
in county aforesaid, grew into his 'teens before he was bound over to Houlka, 
bringing from the aforesaid county, all the goods and chattels, hereditaments 
and appurtenances appertaining to freehold property in said county to said 
town by the said Jim Williams. 

Be it further known, that the said Jim, after a brief school life in the said 
county of his birth, did without malice aforethought attend the school at 
Houlka, studying in said school divers and sundry literature, said lore being 
from time immemorial or into the period that the mind of man runneth not 
to the contrary notwithstanding still. No man ever accused him of con- 
tributory negligence — never an affidavit brought against him for misde- 
meanor; not once can a man show that the said Jim ever indulged in "writs 
of error," "waiver of issue" or ever did a deed under false pretences. He 
was always there with a smile, everybody loved him and he loved every- 
body' ! Common law procedure! 

From the little Justice Court at Houlka he made an appeal to the higher 
court of the University of Mississippi. In the class room he was never in 
arrears, never put a plea for abatement of work, delved deep into the laws 
of Moses and Blackstone, always brought forth the evidence of hard study 
and the decision of the judges of his examinations found him guilty of a 
degree in the literary department and a second degree of Bachelor of Law. 

After the sentence of "Well done, thou good and faithful Jim," had been 
passed on him by the Supreme Court of the aforementioned institution, he 
made a motion for a new trial of life in the town of Indianola, county of Sun- 
flower, and State of Mississippi. After practicing law there for a while, 
swamped with clients with all kinds of cases, both criminal and civil, he an- 
nounced his candidacy for County Attorney of aforesaid Sunflower. He was 
found guilty of 300 majority over W. D. Watts, by fair advantage and with- 
out malice for said opponent, on August 1st, 1911. In this capacity he is 
serving his constituents, and those who are not, with equal justice to all and 



138 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

special privileges to none. Broad justice is his delight, and the quibbling 
technicalities of the law are an abomination. Cares not for public odium 
when he knows that he is right and knows that right will finally prevail. 
Testimony of his brilliance and his knowledge of humanity corroborate into 
the fact that he prosecutes his daily work with the proverbial strength of 
Gibraltar and with the unwavering spirit of never give up. Gives counsel to 
counsil — helps plaintitT and defendant. 

Be it also inserted in the record of his life that the said Jim, for the term 
of seven years, was incarcerated as a teacher in the public schools of Pon- 
totoc, Chickasaw, Winston and Jasper counties and also in the Indianola 
High school. 

Be it further known to the people of Mississippi, that James L. Williams 
has a full vested title to the office of County Prosecuting Attorney, an estate 
in expectancy to some heir that may have some assigns on his heart and who 
he might want to be the administratrix of his household and also an estate in 
the aspiration of the Supreme Bench of Mississippi. Conditional limita- 
tions included thereof. Sunny Jim — the graceful Jim; the lovable Jim; manly 
Jim. 

It is further known that the said or aforesaid Jim is a loyal Blue Stock- 
ing Presbyterian. K. T.. 32 degrees, and Shriner. In all of them he lives up 
to the rules and regulations with all the zeal and enthusiasm of the public 
spirited man. 

"Jim" — and that is the familiar appellation so much used by the Houlka 
people in speaking of him. and their words are always praise — will be "Jim" 
the perfect gentleman, if there ever was a perfect man from Houlka. until he 
passes into the judgment of the Higher Court where legal transactions are void 
and where he will plead his last plea for the life of the aforementioned, 
aforesaid James L. Williams, If you should have the pleasure of going into 
his office, you will hear him humming the old familiar tunes of "When My 
Neighbor's Trials Are O'er" I will not "Resent Fee." Or "Nearer Thv Wad 
To Me," for "I Defend "em All." 

In proof whereof for the foregoing, an outline of this man's life per- 
sonally appeared before me in the shape of a letter from the above-mentioned 
Jim, and hereby make solemn affirmation that the foregoing brief of this 
man's activities since his birth, is true according to law and to the best of 
my knowledge and belief. In witness whereof, is an Underwood typewriter, 
sworn and transcribed before me. this tenth day of March, A. D., (or after 
dark), nineteen thousand and fourteen. 



OLIVER COCKRELL WILLIAMS 
Medical Doctor. 

Some time between 1800 and 1900. "Ol" Williams, as the Houlka people 
know him, was born into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Williams, near the 
little village of Red Land, Pontotoc county. 

Working on the farm during the crop season and attending the public 
schools during the few months of winter, he grew up into a youth of great 
physical endurance — the champion muscle of all the boydom activities at 
that time. 

A strong ambition to be a doctor developed into a reality in the University 
of Tennessee, and after he graduated there with honors, he began the prac- 
tice of that great profession in his home town of Houlka and vicinity. Later 
he moved to West Helena. Ark., and resumed his practice under the firm name 
of Williams & Rogers. 2251-2 Plaza street. There he enjoys a large practice 
among the good people of that town and etTects many wonderful cures of 
suffering humanity. He is highly esteemed by the citizens of that growing 
suburb, and is rapidly making a wide reputation as a most skilful medical 
man. 

Doctor 01 was married to Miss Mary Florence Robards in the year 1000 — 
the ideal of his dreams and the one woman he was proud to call his wife and 



RAD HARRILL REED 139 



the mother of three bright children— Oliver Rohards. Robert Henry and >hiry 
Florence. 

He is a regular and loval member of the Presbyterian Church, also of a 
few well-known fraternal societies. Ready at any time in the day or night to 
help those in distress, he lives peacefully with his devoted family in the 
true fellowship of home life and human endeavor. Lifts himself above the 
grovelling passions of the rabble and lives nobly to the duties of the Divine 
Doctor who went about the earth healing the lame and the sick. 



PAUL DAVIS willl\:ms 

Mobile & Ohio Station Agent. 

Good old "Possel Paul" made his debut in the gTeat county of Chickasaw 
wav back in the prehistoric davs of America. Inscriptions on some old stones 
that were found near the town of Van Vleet tell of his birth on August 8, 
1887. Born at an "earlv age." he soon learned to toot a horn and take up 
imaginarv tickets from the'chickens and pigs. Miniature railroads kept the 
yard of his home torn into trenches, tills and cuts. Spools, wheels and 
evervthing resembling rolling stock were joined together in regular railway 
stvle. He dreamed of trains, drew pictures of engines, thought only of the 
rattle and rush of the monster moguls that quivered from the touch of the 
engineer at the throttle and shot through the towns and tillages like an iron 
bail speeding from the mouth of a Galling cannon. 

Growing older, he attended the rural schools of his town and kept his 
teachers doing the "humptv-strut" to keep up with this young railroad man. 
He was some fast train in his books, rushing through them without wreck 
or mishap. Never stopping for coal or water and on time at every call. 
Mightv trains of thought ran through his brain as the engines of his body 
gathered momentum for a steady pull over the steep grades of life. 

For a few sessions he attended the High School at Houlka. In 1903, he 
began work for the Mobile & Ohio mudline railroad as a telegraph operator 
at^\an Vleet. His work was etYicient and well up to the high standard of 
M. & O. operators. His salarv was increased after months of work well done 
and now he is Freight and Passenger Agent for the same peavine branch at 
Calhoun City. 

On September 8. 1909, he was married to Miss Antoinette Gates, of Oko- 
lona, a ladv of splendid character and rare accomplishments. Paul is a 
''popper"' now, and his father and mother, Fife Williams and Virgie Davis 
Williams, are as proud of their little grandson, Richard Gates Williams, as 
grandparents could ever be. Paul is a member of the Baptist Church, a 
W. O. W. and a member of the Railroad Telegraphers Union. His ambition 
is to be a prominent railroad man. own a private car and leaning back in a 
plush chair, he can dangle his little man on his knees and with a fifty-cent 
El Commercio 4'^ degrees north he can day-dream of the time when he listened 
to the click of the kevs and sold tickets for a living. Paul is a true Christian 
gentleman and a moral voung man in every sense of the word. Has no bad 
habits and if there was 'ever a quieter boy this side of Jordan, he is yet to 
be born. 

ROBERT SAMUEL WILSON 
Government Agricultural Agent. 

R S. Wilson was born at Van Vleet, Miss., July 16, 187ri. He was the 
fourth son of William Hamilton Wilson and Eleanor Jane Mauldin Wilson, 
both of Scotch-Irish descent, and moved to Mississippi when quite young 
from South Carolina. Both died when Sam was a very small boy. not only 
leaving him with verv little means, but also the responsibility of assisting in 
the support of a dependent familv, including an afflicted sister who never 
walked in her short life of nineteen vears. Under these circumstances it 
naturallv followed that Mr. Wilson's early opportunities were very meager. 



140 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

From the time he was thirteen years old until he was twenty-two he at- 
tended only three school terms of from two to four months each. His life, 
although in the face of these difficulties, was far from being a gloomy one, 
for he had the happy faculty of getting a lot of fun out of life in spite of the 
disadvantages. A cheerful disposition has always been his greatest asset 
in the life he lives. He always arranged to keep a good pack of dogs and 
after a hard day of manual labor, would thoroughly enjoy chasing the elusive 
opossum and the festive raccoon until the wee hours of the night. When 
approaching manhood he was considered almost indispensable at the country 
log rolling and the social function that went along with it. If the man across 
a log from Sam could come up level without a grunt he was some man. 

Few with whom he came in contact dreamed that he was continually 
chafing and longing for the educational advantages and opportunities of life 
that fell to the lot of his more fortunate acquaintances. At the age of twenty- 
two, having lost his afflicted sister and finding himself without home ties, 
he started out in search for success in a busy bustling world, a hope he had 
always cherished from the beginning. Being equipped for nothing else he 
hired himself to Mr. W. M. Holliday, near Houlka, as a common farm laborer. 
For eleven months he labored, proud in the possession of the ten dollars per 
month and board that he drew. But this was not all that he gained in this 
year's experience. To the moral infiuence of associating with this splendid 
Christian gentleman, in whose home he lived, he attributes more credit for 
future success than the much needed dollars that he earned as pay for his 
services. By stinting himself in the actual necessities of life, he accumulated 
during this year enough money so that by living at the home of his brother 
and paying a nominal board in cash and the remainder by doing chores at 
night, morning and Saturdays, he was able to attend the Houlka High School 
for alDout seA'en months. He did not finish the session, however, as his eyes 
could not stand the strain to which they were subjected during the late hours 
with imperfect light. Having been a close student at home, he was able at 
the end of this seven months to stand the County examination and secure a 
first grade license to teach. 

Returning to manual labor until the following fall he secured the princi- 
palship of the Mount Zion school a few miles west of Houlka, and taught 
there for one session. He frankly admits that this is the only bunch of kale 
that he ever drew in his life that he did not earn. No reflection on the school 
whatever. He declined re-election until he had secured a regular course in 
some reputable college. Then Mount Zion was too small to think about going 
back to teach. 

To get a college education at the age of twenty-three with less than one 
hundred dollars in his jeans was not a problem of easy solution. About this 
time Mr. Wilson, by accident, attended a farmer's institute conducted by 
representatives of the A. and M. College. These gentlemen inspired Sam with 
their able talks and he listened with about the same feeling that a hungry 
waif has when he looks through the show window of a restaurant. Prof. 
Wilburn happened to mention a young man of his acquaintance who came 
to college without money; worked his way through and had made quite a 
reputation in the world of science. This was a revelation to Sam, and offered 
an opportunity too good to be missed. He did not even wait for the school 
to open; but at once packed up his bandana and drove sixteen miles to a 
railroad. With just enough money to buy a uniform, books, matriculation 
fee and one month deposit for board, he began work as a twenly-four-year- 
old "Prep.' He made up the entire nine months in three and entered the sec- 
ond year as full Freshman. For five years he remained in college paying all 
of his expenses and graduating in June, 1904, with high honors. In addition 
to this, he attended the meetings of the Dialectic Literary Society, holding 
at one time or other every oflice up to president and anniversarian. Besides 
this, he was treasurer of the Y. M. C. A. for one year. In four seasons he 
missed only one game on the 'varsity football team. When the team was en- 
gaged in mopping up with other colleges everybody knew who was playing left 
tackle without looking. They knew "Old Big Wilson" was on the job. The 
secret of all this success is fully told by a characteristic remark of the 
lamented Dr. W. H. Magruder. Mr. Wilson after winning the Freshman 



R AD H ARRILL REED 141 



Declamation medal and the Dialectic Sophomore Debate medal, succeeded 
in winning the Magruder medal for the best original address in the Sophomore 
class. Expressing his thanks and high appreciation of the honor bestowed 
upon him, Dr. Magruder replied : "1 am glad you got it, Wilson, for you de- 
serve it. But don't get it into your head that you are unusually bright, for 
you are not. You have succeeded here by hard work and that i-; what you will 
always have to do." Mr. Wilson accepted this piece of advice in characteris- 
tic good humor and has adopted it as the keynote of his life. 

After graduating he spent one year with the State Experiment Station 
after which he retired to private business. In February, 1907, he was em- 
ployed by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in what is known as the 
Farmers' Co-operative Demonstration Work. This work attempts by actual 
tests on individual farms to convince farmers of the elTectiveness of scientific 
methods in farming. The farmer is not asked to accept the opinion of the 
government representative, but is given an opportunity to cultivate a por- 
tion of his farm under the direction of the agent and see for himself whether 
or not his profits are increased. In counties where this work is carried on 
one such demonstration is located in each community as an object lesson, 
not only for the benefit of the farmer on whose land it is located, but also 
for his neighbors. Field meetings are held on these demonstration plots and 
the farmers in the community are invited to come and inspect the work and 
discuss details with the agent of the government. This work was originated 
in Texas by the late Dr. S. A. Knapp in a small way to combat the ravages 
of the Mexican boll weevil, but owing to the success of the work and the 
demand for it by all the progressive farmers, it has been extended throughout 
the South, and now there is a movement in Congress to extend it to every 
part of the United States. Mr. Wilson accepted at first a subordinate j^osition, 
l3ut has been promoted very rapidly until he now has charge of all this work 
in the State of Mississippi. Over forty men employed by the U. S. Govern- 
ment are under his direction and report their work to liim. He is an enthusi- 
ast with regard to this work, and sees great visions of its future. Under 
his careful guidance the work has come to stand not only for better methods 
of cultivation for certain crops, but stands for a better general system, better 
soils, better homes and better rural civilization. The demonstration farms are 
used only as a nucleus around which to work for general rural improvement. 

Besides his regular official duties, Mr. Wilson is called upon to do a great 
amount of agricultural lecture work. By no means a Prentiss, his efforts 
along this line are characterized by an earnest desire to give facts in as few 
words possible. He gets right down to the subsoil and talks straight, look- 
ing you in the eye and driving every fact home in a plain convincing manner. 
He means business and farmers profit thereby when they listen to his lec- 
tures of common sense explanation. Although his work has been thousands 
of dollars to the farmers of Mississippi, and has been complimented fre- 
quently by Congressmen and other high ofTicials of the government, he says 
that the compliment that he appreciates most was paid him by an illiterate 
North Alabama farmer. After listening to one of Mr. Wilson's plain simple 
talks of about forty minutes' length, the old farmer rushed up, shook his 
hand and said: "You warn't cut out for no speaker but you shore do tell 
something every time you open your mouth." 

On December 12, 1911, he was happily married to Miss Fannie Maude 
Gunter, the beautiful daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Gunter, of Columbus, 
Miss., and a member of a large and popular family of that place. The mar- 
riage was an unusually fortunate one and a happier home would be hard to 
find. The union has been blessed by the birth of one child, Eleanor Frances 
Wilson, a handsome, rollicking red-headed girl fifteen months old and the 
winner of the grand sweepstakes prize at the recent Better Baby Contest, 
held at Columbus, in which many babies participated. 

Mr. Wilson is a member of the Methodist Church and has been for two 
years a Steward in the First Church at Columbus. Houlka is proud of Sam 
and the great work he is doing for the uplift of the common weal. Withal 
a successful man. 



142 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

JEVA WINTER 
Educator 

Since April 18, 1881, Winter has been with us — not the "blizzing blizz," 
but good old warm-hearted Jeva. His birthplace was in a little home near 
Reid, Miss., where his parents, John William and Charlotte Price Winter, 
lived before moving to Houlka some time in the early nineties. 

Here, Jeva helped do the farm work and ginning for a few years, in the 
meantime, attending the regular terms of the village school. He diligently 
applied himself to every task and led his classes during the completion of 
the limited curriculum with much rapidity and thoroughness. 

From Houlka, Jeva went to the Mississippi Normal College at Houston 
and by close attention to duty graduated with honors. After a few weeks 
he procured a license and began to teach the three R's in various schools 
of Chickasaw and adjoining counties. Under his guidance, the school at 
Mantee sprang into notoriety as if by magic. A big new building and many 
boarders, besides dozens of educable children that had never enjoyed a good 
school in that vicinity were the results of his patience and continued perse- 
verance. 

Athletics interested him from the very first, and he knew that by instilling 
the spirit of the game in the pupils, better work would naturally be accom- 
plished. He coaclied the teams, played with his pupils and always conducted 
the games in a true sportsmanlike manner. In every form of this activity, 
his teams were highly successful and the exercise increased the mental ability 
of his students three-fold, Jeva is an all-round player in all the sports of the 
athletic field — a good pitcher, first baseman and fielder. Just any part suits 
him, and my! it's farewell, popper, when he hits a baseball square on the 
nose. Get another ball, is the next yelp from the opposing pitcher. 

On October 25, 1905, he was married to Miss Delia Worrell, daughter of 
Uncle Billy Worrell, the one-time popular hotel man of Houlka. She is a 
most excellent lady of fine intellectual ability and social pleasantries, and 
since their marriage has helped Jeva in the class room and in the home — 
working always to advance both in the knowledge of educating others — and 
to that end they are striving faithfully and successfully. 

Two children bless the home of this family and go to make father and 
mother very happy and ambitious. 

Professor Winter is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, finishing 
the regular four-year Pedagogical course in the year 1912, after three years 
of hard study and "sticktoitness" — a thing that very few students do in 
three years time. In his Senior year, he was an instructor in the department 
of Physics, teaching and preparing experimental tests in the laboratories of 
the lamented John Wesley Johnson. 

It was the pleasure of many of us college boys to spend Sunday with 
Professor and Mrs. Winter in their little University cottage back of the 
campus proper and to enjoy the good old home cooking always to be found 
in their happy home. A change from sawdust, salve, zip, bullets, gristle 
and sinkers was always welcome. It was a day of happiness and many of 
the boys will remember the jolly good times we had with this family after 
days and days of grinding the bone. 

Jeva is a Methodist and a Mason — loyal to both and ever ready to respond 
when duty calls. All through his college career and throughout his whole 
life he has stood for high ideals and square to the right, fighting every inch 
for his sincere convictions and coming out victorious and untainted in every 
case. The activities of college life saw Jeva right in the middle, helping put 
down this and pushing that, until the boys knew him as a wide-awake, liberal 
and broad-minded man. 

"To be a help to humanity" is his ambition, and that is exactly the life 
he is living today. His motto is, "Do unto others as I would that they should 
do unto me." 

Jeva's school life has been his happy days, for he has known the wiles of 
all school boys in their devious ways to avoid study. He has snapped to 



RAD HARRILL REED U3 



go for water and wood and to play niunible-peg before returning with what he 
had no idea of ever bringing — especially if the wood was uncut and the well 
too far. It's the road of all school boys and he had his fun just like the rest 
of us. His pals were the old blue-back speller and McGuffey's readers. 
White's, Robinson's and Ray's Higher were "figgered" from addition to pi and 
from pi to logarithms. Then a trip through the poverty-stricken pages of 
Wentworth's trigonometrical pauperisms and mystical mortifications of Eu- 
clidian and Newtonian enigmas until his brain almost flew otf at a tangent 
into the Rigid Dynamics of Indeterminate Co-efficients. But he mastered the 
thing and right now he can count up to a hundred and one and add four cows 
to seven sheep with a mathematical exactness, horizontally, perpendicularly, 
vertically, anyway, an\^ime, even to the tenth part of a circulating decimal. 

He is now teaching young ideas how to shoot, at Thorn, Miss., a little 
school way down in Calhoun county. There, he is making progress that 
characterized his work at other schools. He will, no doubt, be heard from in 
the educational advancement of Mississippi. Kind, accommodating, worthy 
of any trust and a friend to man. 

JOHN DeCAMP WINTER. 
Medical Doctor. 

John D., the younger brother of the man just preceding, was born on 
January 29, 1886, in the little village of Houlka. Another great medical 
man had eome into the world to practice one of the highest professions 
known to civilization. He grew and waxed strong in the use of farm imple- 
ments and in the general work about his father's home. He liked to pick 
out splinters and see the other fellow take castor oil — hence a decision to 
delve deeper into the many mysteries of a human being; to find the remedy 
for the different forms of suffering, and by close attention to every detail 
make for himself a good name in the world of medicine. 

From 1891 to 1902, he was a regular student in the High School of his 
home town, completing the higher texts with much credit. Indulged in all 
the athletics among tlie boys and helped materially in the big concerts 
so numerous in the happy days of the long ago. Then in the year 1903, he 
went to the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Starkville and indus- 
triously worked thru the sessions of '03 and '04 — '04 and '05. 

Few months later, John D. went to the University of Nashville and 
began his medical course. His record in that school was remarkable — his 
reputation went abroad and Houlka began to puff up with pride for her 
son. Even before he graduated in April, 1909, he passed the State Board 
of Medical Examiners with either the highest mark or along with the very 
first who did climb over. 

Two years before he graduated from the Medical College, Doctor John 
began a few experiments on the people of Judah in Pontotoc County, about 
April 15, 1907. That is always necessary in the profession, for they must 
start on somebody and generally do as good doctoring as can be found in 
any part of the country. So with his pockets full of Doan's Regulets, Fletch- 
er's Castoria, Lydia E. Pinkham's Compound, Thedford's Black Draught, 
Hostetter's Almanac, Peruna, Swamp Root, Simmon's Regulator, Tichenor's 
Antiseptic and various other "yerbs" and potions to ease the mind of the 
dying, he rode his way thru the jungles doing good. And the remarkable 
thing about it all, they are still living and happy in the praises of the young 
Doctor Winter. He made good from the very "off startin' " and is con- 
tinuing his good work in the town of Lambert, in the Mississipj^i delta, 
where he moved in May, 1910, from Judah. 

February 13, 1910, Doctor Winter was married to Miss Lela Myrtle Gilles- 
pie, a young lady of fine character and beauty. One child, James William 
Winter, is the center of this devoted couple's happiness and life. 

Doctor Winter's motto is: "At all times be a man." The very life 
he lives shows this characteristic trait and all of the Lambert people think 
of him as their close and confidential friend. His ambition is : "To make the 



144 HOULK A YESTERDAY TODAY 

best of life." Thru all of his life, he has made the most of it and lives hap- 
pily whatever comes or goes. He is a great hunter and hundreds of coons 
and other fur-bearing animals have unknowingly trapped themselves in the 
hidden snares placed in holes and logs of Schooner bottom. From this he 
commands a good revenue from fur companies. He is a manly man — a 
friendlv man — a Christian man. 



WILLIAM WASHINGTON WOOTEN 
Progressive Farmer 

In Fairfield District, South Carolina, when the old red hills and gullies 
were glistening in the shimmering heat of a sultry summer sun, and the 
clouds of war were about to burst into the rattle and roar of Fort Sumpter, 
there was born a little boy into the humble home of James A. and Martha 
Robinson Woolen, on the"^ 12th day of July, 1858. That boy was "Coby" 
Woolen. 

One year after the war he moved to Lee County in Mississippi and after 
one year of farm work he moved to Chickasaw, near Okolona, 1867, and for 
a few years tilled the prairie lands of that section with the average success 
of the farmers at that time. Then in 1874 he moved to a farm near Houlka 
and made crops every year until about 1899 or 1900, when he was employed 
by Mrs. Sallie A. Harrill to look after the business about the home place 
while her son, O. M. Harrill, was in Washington. For a few years he at- 
tended to this work with perfect satisfaction, living as a member of the 
family in all the pleasantness of a man of his character and gentlemanly 
conduct. In all the affairs of the town he was a helping hand, and in the 
meeting of the Masonic Lodge and the Woodmen of the World he lived into 
its work with all the happiness of brotherhood and good will to man that 
a man like "Coby" Woolen could easily do. Always had a good word and a 
smile for everybody. 

It was my pleasure to sit up way into the midnight oil and listen to the 
weird tales he would tell of the old days in the Carolinas — my hair standing 
on "tiptoes" as the ghostly apparitions unfolded themselves from his tongue. 
Tobacco tags were valualDle in those days and he "chawed" Schnapps until 
his mouth ran red with artesian velocity just to give me the tags. 

On March 13, 1902, he and Miss Ava Brown came to a definite conclusion 
and the lives of this devoted couple were joined into one forever and for- 
ever. She is a very industrious lady of Christian character and the proud 
mother of four children. Walker, Oscar, Bernard and Mattie. Living on 
the farm in Calhoun, near Vardaman, Miss., they make Daddy "Coby" the 
happiest man in all the world. 

Mr. Woolen, or "Ooten" as some call him, is a member of the Baptist 
Church. In his good letter he says that, "It has always been my aim to do 
all the good I can and as little harm as possible. Houlka seems like home to 
me and when I am there on a visit the memories of the long ago come 
back to me and make me feel that no place is so dear as Houlka and its 
people." 



RAD HARRILL REED 145 



WHIMS— FANCIES— ECCENTRICITIES 

In no place is there to be found more curious, whimsical, cosmopolitan 
concourse of human nature than in the church. People of all classes, humors, 
£?loomers, grouches, grumps, smilers, optimisms, pessnnisms, conservatives, 
radicals saints, sinners, reverent and non-reverent, some lo sliow otl, others 
to see, manv to speculate, a few to pass away the tnne, two or three to laugh 
and talk, some to snore and some to worship. 

Take for instance, a service at evening time, when the visiting minister 
is exhorting on one of his "memorized" sermons. The occasion happens to 
be on Sunday night, the last service of the protracted meeting. The church 
is crowded— maiiv have joined- others are on the brink- a few pass up and 
down the aisles, throwing their arms about "cousins" and beseeching them 
to hustle up to the mourning bench. It is the only chance some poor sou 
has to plav hands with a friend as she proceeds to wash them with her forced 
tears and' looks "so appealing like" right down into his liver. More go up 
through this sort of stufT on pure politeness and gallantry than really would 
go otherwise. 

We will say that this meeting exists in mind only, therefore it has no 
direct reference to anv denomination, creed, community or people. .^u<^"h 
meetings, though, happen the year round in almost every town and it the 
wooden pulpit could speak, it might tell a tale untold. 

Let's begin with "Miss Rhubbur Kneck" who is always at every service 
with her brother, father, mother, cousin, aunt, uncle-in-law and out-ot-laws. 
Evervbodv who comes in, the neck twists around and the eyes likewise, the 
congregation assembles, some quietly, others with scrapes and drags. Old 
Reverend Kaint Stopp," the visiting preacher, takes his ease on a sofii behind 
the pulpit. Then comes "Ole Miz Skandull Toater" with "Miss Gadabout 
Gossipp" and her little sister "Teller Tale." "Ole Thinggumbob Snimewiper 
and his brother "Kernel Whippersnapper" come shuffling in, followed by 
"Mister Hvm Hiester" and "Mister Trubbul Maikor." On the other side cpmes 
"Miss Dinipul Cheak" and "Miss Dimun Whring" with their friends Miss 
Powdir Dabbur" and "Miss Painter Faice." Ih^n "Miss Hunnie Muzzle 
trips in with "Miss Hiegh Steppur" and her sister. Miss HobbiU Skurt, and 
her cousin "Miss Side Splittum." Just before the services begin, :n comes 
"Old Sleap Lait" with "Mister Slow Poake" and his triend, Klodde Hopper. 
With a rush "Miss Wrussel Heatherbloom Skyrt" and her sister. Miss Bus- 
sell Padd," sit noisilv down beside "Miz Forrin Hair" and Miss Prissie 
Priss " The song is announced and the "Choir Invisible" rises into a singing 
pitch. A few rusty lips begin to tear loose with an "Amazing Pace \\ hat 
An Awtul Sound, that Raved On A Stretch" of uneasiness and hnally died 
into a murmur of relief. "Old Brother Amen Korner" is called on to give 
his same old prayer— so long that God gets tired listening and goes on about 
His business in another church. After the old man has prayed tor every 
living soul he can think of, he begins on the dead ones; all the time asking 
the Lord for more than anybody in the world deserves or will ever get. He 
prays "make us thankful" stulT, when it is the duty of all to be thanktu 
and not ask Him to "make us" do thus and so. Many go into sleep ot natural 
monotony and others find time to see what the women have on and what 
thev haven't got on. A few find time to arrange some innocent hooks and 
eyes and especially "Miss Pinnye Plackett" who is afraid the poor thing 
w'ill come loose. ^"Miss Planner Slammer" unconsciously touches a key 
and the man who is praying takes it as a hint to wind up and leave the rest 
until next time. , i i • + 

The preacher now "takes his text" and the members settle back into 
thoughts a hundred miles away. They leave it with him, thinking he is 
capable to handle the subject, for he "has been paid to do so and they 
let him rip, rear and roar until their nap is out and then get to squirming 
for him to quit. Just at this period he doesn't care to quit and the squirming 
becomes a fidget. "Old Backker Chawer" and "Granny Snuff Dippur find 
a crack to "squirt at" and "Uncle Turn Tum Komplaint" ^tting near Major 
Whiskey Soke" begins to grunt in unison with "Mrs. Tootzie Wootzie s 




Main \'iew Ferguson-Palmer Lumber Mill. 




New Lumber Yard Ferguson-Palmer Co., of Paducah, Ky, 



RAD HARRILL REK!) 147 



"Whiney Kidd" and finally gets up and shuines out to "see about the 
horses."^ "Miss La Valliere" and her sister "Miss Kutter Dashe" whisper 
audibly and "Old Bro. Lasses Sopper" pulls out his watch to see how many 
more hours he must do without food. With a snap it closes to the quivering 
shock of "Miss Nurvous Recke" and to the last words of the preacher. 

While the sleepy choir sings the time-worn joke of "Some Day We Will 
Understand," the deacons take up the collection. More fidgeting. It was 
in this pocket and that pocket and the other pocket; but nov. the nickel 
can't be found. The only piece available is a lone copper cent— the continual 
jov of a collection plate. "Ole Klose Fistt" and "Ain't Gotter Cent" are 
always there. "Old Uncle Kold Shoulder" looks out the window when the 
hat is passed his way and "Old Tite Wadd" looks longingly down into the 
hat and grumbles to himself that the minister "Is gittin it all." The man who 
begrudges what little the pastor does get, should try living for a year on 
his meagre income. But "Ole Mister Slruckit Rich" and young "Dollar Bill" 
come to the rescue of the perishing and Hip in some crisps that you can 
hear "crisping." The preacher is watching every move with an eagle eye 
and when he hears an eagle flapping you can see his lips making a noise 
like biscuit and ham. The choir then jumps into the song, "Gather Them In," 
while part of the audience murmur, "How Shall We Escape?" Very few sing 
"Pass Me Not," for as bad as they hate to give it uj), the best plan is to 
"Remit Fee" and be done with if. Old farmers think more about "Will 
There Be Any Crops On My Ground" and the proverbial pun of "My Calf 
Has Never Yet Been Sold" than they do fussing over religion. In the mean- 
time some one of the choir is grabbing frantically for a "Lost Chord" while 
the others are vociferously and screamingly vocalizing on "More Than Their 
Tongues Can Yell." Young "Miss Airgrette Feather" is doing the best she can 
on the rat infested organ, while the rest of the young "Honey Loves" are 
wishing she would make a mistake and inwardly commenting about her 
position on the organ stool. Babies are whining for bread or to go home. 
From some little bag the mother brings to his mouth a big "hoe cake" or a 
tea cake and the "sweet thing" munches to his "turn" content. Several men 
are waking from the soothing sermon. Into pockets they go for tobacco 
and many have their cigarette rolled ready to be lighted when the service 
is over. Converts stand about awkwardly — scared speechless. Beads of per- 
spiration hang about their necks. The general handshaking begins and half 
the hands you meet give no response — awful, awful, never owned a grip in 
their lives.' When will they get thru, thinks the housewife who just knows 
that she will have to "Kneacl Her Lily Flour" again when she gets home and 
that the old hen is burning to a cinder right that minute. The old "Stayat- 
home" who "Took His Wife To Let Her See" hopes she has seen it all and 
then worries her for the next month about not knowing the text preached 
from; but still she knows just to the thread what "Miss Changeable Silk" 
and "Mrs. Spangull WrufTul" had on. "Miss Oald Made" looks disgustingly 
at some of the husbands the "fool wimmin" chose for their "Everlasting 
Harms." "Messrs, Muttin Hedd, Holler Hedd, Bigg Hedd, Whisker Fuzz, 
Piddul Doer, Piffle Puller, Kalamity Howler, Bone Hedde, Kuss Wurde, 
Poar Mee, Dollar Grabber, Akin Paine, Hott Haid, Simpul Mynd, Will Worrie, 
Skinflint, Setter Down, Lazy Knocker, Krissmus Spree and Bigg Eye" are 
all there possibly for the first and maybe the last time. The sermon didn't 
agree with them' and he was not the right kind of a preacher anyhow. The 
minister gets it in the neck, back and side; finally he goes to heaven, plays 
around the throne and pityingly watches his former members work the 
crops in the fertile fields of Kingdom Come. Many thoughts as to the other 
fellow's religion think themselves into a frenzy during the sermon. How 
can this man go to heaven and how that one will shoot "lickitum split" to 
roaring ruins below. Each thinks himself "a shore ticket" for the pearly 
portals above; never considering the punches they will get on the road. The 
other fellow is not a member of this or that church and therefore he is 
gone forever. This seems to be an almost universal thought — that the other 
fellow, unless he belongs to "My Church" will never eat ambrosia. It's 
silly to the extreme. Not all believe this; there are many liberal people be- 
sides the bunch of "narrows." Some say the other fellow does not read his 



148 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

Bible right. What's the use of fussing? For a dollar you can buy "absolute 
proof" that your way is the only way. 

But back to the meeting. The tune "hiesters" have finished. The parson 
pronounces the benediction as he looks thru the ceiling trying to find God 
to listen. The congregation is relieved, and so is God. 

The meeting being at night not so many were asked to "go home with 
me." But think about the close of a Sunday morning service. The sermon 
is forgotten in the rush of invitations. They let loose and more than half 
don't mean it but do so just to have something to say. More than half get 
stung. You rush home to "fix" and think in great long lurid phrases just 
why you asked so many home with you. You hustle thru the pantry for 
extras — the wood is wet and the biscuit won't rise — the cook is gone — every- 
thing is wrong — the milk is sour — the butter needs support, and here they 
come in the front gate. With a thousand and two apologies you scatter all 
thru the dinner and watch closely for something that might go crooked. 
To get the guests mouth just as far from a biscuit as possible, you and your 
husband chat of things "furrin" and slyly wink at the kids to be quiet with 
words of "What is the matter with this and that." 

While they are chewing as carefully as they can according to life in- 
surance regulations, we go back to the church and see the crowd disperse. 
Instead of going right home many of the good old souls have to deliver 
a series of kisses. As you hurry out some old lady snatches your arm and 
with her snufT dripping from the corners of her mouth she raises herself 
in a puckering attitude and plants the smack square at you. You turn your 
cheek to catch the dose and stiff arm the "old thing" with all your might. 
After you have told her all the history of the family in answer to her million 
questions she delivers one more "calamity" right on your mouth. Out the 
door you first think of "spattooing" but reconcile yourself with a rub of a 
handkerchief that is smaller than the kisses just prescribed. At last the peo- 
ple shutTle homeward and not half of them so hungry as they thought for 
just before the sermon closed. 

The meal is about down now and after the "rehashments" are served 
they gather on the front porch for a discussion of everybody and every- 
thing. You begin at the beginning and go to the end — then from end to 
beginning and next from the middle both ways. You take a drink of water 
and start all over again. Think you, "Will they ever go home." Your shoes 
pinch and your new clothes don't feel good. Honest, cross your heart, don't 
you think such thoughts? But they stay for supper. What cruelty to ani- 
mals ! Then all assemble at the supper table. You sigh more excuses about 
the edition of the "Review of Reviews." The guests are called on one by one 
until some nervy man sympathetically and graciously begins: "O Lord, it 
is the same thing we had for dinner. Be with us in times of famine. Save 
our bodies from junk and revive us again." They stay over night and not a 
spare bed. "O Why Do They Wait." The davenport is the only "Refuge" 
and a very present help in time of sleep. You spend a restless night trying 
to think up a suitable breakfast. Now we leave them with you and bless 
you for thou art the chosen children. 



FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! 

Just as this book was about ready to go to press the most disastrous 
fire Houlka has ever known occurred on the morning of March 17, 1914. The 
tire was discovered coming from either T. J. Phillips or Green & Combs brick 
buildings. Hundreds of people responded to the alarm of a thousand guns 
and saved some of the stock from the different stores. The loss was over 
$75,000 and only partially covered by insurance. The losers are, T. J. Phil- 
lips & Sons, Green & Combs; O. M. Harrill, J. E. Cobb and J. C. Beasley; 
L. A. Turner, Howard Roberts, Ashkenaz and Ross Kimbrough. Two of the 
wooden stores belonging to W. H. GrifTin and J. W^. H. Raskin. The Houlka 
Hardware and Furniture Co. lost heavily; but are coming back again with 
a modern fireproof steel building. IF. IF. IF'. IF. IF. 



RAD HARR ILL REED 149 



THE BLIND TIGER BANQUET 

If you make a noise like a dollar, a blind tiger will open his eyes. Dollars 
made so many noises before Christmas the tiger didn't have time to go blind. 
When the eagle screamed he lieard it. 

So it came to pass that all the whiskies roundabout decided to call a ban- 
quet to celebrate the profits of the season — the season being 369 days long. 
The year had been one continual jag on a spree. Men had doped to death 
from supposed to be guaranteed "pure food." Therefore the reason of re- 
joicing, they had made money and destroyed homes — what did they care — 
tliat was their plan — their ambition. 

Old Hayner and I. W. Harper, the great grandfathers of booze, had their 
stenographer. Jack Ratlin, who lived down on the Yannissee near Redway 
pike and whose father, Jo Blackburn, owned the little Red Mill at the Cataw- 
ba Port, to notify all the family in the great nation of RUM to be present 
in good old Bourbon, Kentucky State, where the Wurzburger flows under 
the Anheuser-Busch. 

Just out of Bourbon the meeting would take place on Sunnybrook farm 
and before Sundown all the Specials and especially the Yazoo Special were 
made up in the centers of w^hiskey traffic. Some came from the Hermitage, 
Yellowstone, Cedar Brook, Green River, Runnymede. Clark River, Ganny- 
mede, Memphis Springs, Beale Avenue and Oakwood, on engine 444, fired 
by Old Pepper and throttled by Johnny Walker. Liquor flowed freely— 
corks were drawn and everything was in a fizzing and effervescent exhil- 
aration. 

Louis 66 was master of ceremonies, with Old Peter Cooper, Old Grandad, 
Old Overholt and Old Taylor as his Cabinet. The Clubs, Chickasaw, Cana- 
dian, Murray Hill, Gayoso and Crescent were all there from the same VAT 
in "Jimmyjohns," "suitcases," pints, quarts and gallons. A Silver Cloud 
hovered over the little Mossy Dell banquet hall that looked as if it were a Cas- 
cade of nectared sunshine blushing in the mingled sweetness of golden happi- 
ness. Lincoln Springs sparkled from the Red Cliff of the Oaklawn mansion. 
The Wayside Inn was full to the brim with the Pride of Kentucky and the 
Upper Crust of Crystal Glenn and Greenw^ood. The old soldiers from Seven 
Pines and the Greenbrier band marched in with Old Jefferson from Monticello 
and John Paul Jones from Lake Madeira. All wore Four Roses in lapels and 
the Morning Smile with which all Cordial men greet their friends. Old 
Plantation colonels were there, wishing each other Good Luck with their dis- 
tilleries for the next year's destruction of life and property. Old King of 
the the Woods was there with his faithful watchdog. Old Nero, and Forty 
Nine other brands that he had gathered from the wildcat worms in the quiet 
of the night. 

Sitting about the Green Lawn of the open air hall were now gathered all 
the Cream of Kentucky with a Pabst Blue Ribbon ffowing in the silken breeze. 
The chairman arose and delivered by the "express" wish of the Big Four, 
Sambucetti, Baumgarten, Jones Supply and Old Guckenheimer, the 101 Proof 
reasons of the Why-Not of Whiskey-Straight. Glasses tinkled as the Old 
Quaker held his wine high and in a Mellow Grain tone "drank the health" of 
did Jordan, while the Old Owl and Old Crow of only Three Feathers sat blink- 
ing on a nearby Oak Branch. Old Dominick made a very eloquent talk on Cop- 
per Kettle distilling, how he was Bottled in Bond and how he made twenty- 
five barrels of chemical death out of one barrel of Kentucky Corn ; Manhattan 
Cocktail reeled the audience with his knowledge of the peaceful panacea of 
the soul and how he evades the law with the ease of the expert politician. 
Brown Bottled Schlitz with Red Raven Splits made a few hops across the 
stage under the direction of Budweiser and Bass. Everybody sipped a little 
Beerine, Vodka, Tonica, Sherry, California Grape, Duffy's Malt, Kohlman's 
Korn, Apricot, Apple and Peach Brandy, Applejack, Persimmon Beer, Cider 
and Gordon Gin. Golden Cream as the Golden Gift of the Loyal Club was 
served and Rev. Champagne effervesced cjuite a funny after-dinner speech 
on the Rock and Rye road to a royal and radiant reputation. Sour Mash 



150 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 

77 explained the nine cents to make a gallon and the 90 cents to coax Uncle 
Sam. The Old Hunter raised up and told the Old Foresters how to find the 
juice for "medicinal purposes only" or for the great thirst of "snakebite." 
Old Jamaica Ginger let loose some fiery stulT that told in a statistical way 
the millions of gallons made and sold and the thousands of killings and 
fights caused by his enemy Whiskey. Ginger Ale figured that the money 
spent for drink would construct a i)lush-lined stairway into the portals 
of Kingdom Come and provide free transportation to all who desired to make 
the trip. Then it would build enough good roads to extend all over the land 
of America and have plenty to give Europe. It would send every child in 
the world to school, provide life and work for all the poor of the slums and 
tenements and convert the entire world to Christianity. On and on he went 
astounding the old soaks and sprees that wallowed in the late volcanic dis- 
turbances. Mountain Dew began to rise or fall in regular Dewdrop fashion 
about the banqueters and although they came there in good old Whiskey 
Straight they were leaving more or less crooked. 

Still it was a great success and all joined in to express in fullest Spirits 
the enjoyment of the occasion and their intention to make Whiskey a little 
more removed from corn and other ingredients that used to make the ropy- 
rich molasses brand of generations dead ago. 



THE PROFESSIONS OF "WHO'S WHO." 

In the one hundred and fifty-three sketches a close tabulation shows that 
sixty-five of them are Woodmen; fifty-seven Methodists; fifty-four Masons; 
forty-one Baptists; thirty Merchants; twenty-five Presbyterians; twenty Pro- 
gressive Farmers; thirteen Knights of Pythias; ten Doctors; ten Preachers; 
nine Teachers; eight Salesmen; six Odd Fellows; fi\e each of Red Men, Lum- 
bermen, Shriners and Furniture Dealers; four each of R. F. D. Carriers, 
Cotton Buyers and K. O. T. M.; three each of Druggists, Opticians, Machinists, 
Dentists, Ginners, Pharmacists and Traveling Salesmen; two each of Carpen- 
ters, Mechanics, Jewelers, Millers, Contractors, Insurance Agents, Capitalists, 
Telegraph Operators, Telephone Managers, Railroad Agents, Barbers, Tax 
Assessors and members Christian Church and one each of Railroad Section 
Foreman, Blacksmith, Liveryman, Printer, Editor, Marshal, Butcher, College 
President, Cashier, Postmaster, Engineer, Supervisor and Cumberland Pres- 
byterian. 

The above is compiled according to the answers to my questions about 
their occupation. You will notice that the Blacksmiths, Machinists and Me- 
chanics are rather mixed — but that is the form in the letters. With them 
all, Houlka is well represented in most all of the well known professions. 
Houlka is mighty proud of her big family and wishes for all of her sons the 
continuation of their successful lives for good to man and for the glory of 
the Divine Master who made it possible and who made it well. 



THE CIRCULATION OF "HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY" 

Copies of this book will go to the Hawaiian Islands and into the following 
States: Oregon, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, New 
Jersey, Delaware, District of Columbia, N'irginia, North and South C-arolina, 
Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma and a 
"few" in good old Mississippi. It is very pleasing to me to know of this 
wide circle of friends and the hook goes out with the hope that you will 
read it from cover to cover and from its pages gather a more kindly feeling 
for Houlka and her people. To all of you who have the patience to read 
every line — I thank you with all the heart and soul of a boy who wants to 
Help His Friends. 



HAD H A R R I L L REED 



151 



LAMENTED MEN AND WOMEN OF HOULKA 



James Warren Alexander 
William Baskin 
Floyd Berry 
Mrs, Emma Cook 
Aquilla Delashmet 
Bart Delashmet 
Milton Fleming 
Mrs. M. Fleming 
Caspar Fleming 
Mrs. C. Fleming 
James Grimes 
Walker Hancock 
Warren Harrill 
William Harrill 
Aunt Bet Harrill 



Isbell Harris 
Kelly Hobson 
R. f. Hobson 
W. M. Holladay 
Claude Holiingsworlh 
John L. Howard 
Mrs. Lucy Ivy 
Jasper James 
Green Johnson 
F. Taylor Marion 
A. L. McJunkin 
Davis McJunkin 
Willie McJunkin 
Bankston Marion 
George Marion 



Mrs. Madie D. Pulliam 
John McNeil Reed 
Dr. P. W. Rowland 
Miss Lucy Savely 
ITncle Charlie Saxon 
James Thompson 
Lause Thompson 
L. O. Towerv 
Mrs. J. S. Waldrop 
William L. Walker 
A. W. Westmoreland 
Will Whitehead 
Willie Wilson 
Oliver Williams 
Elliot Williams 



SOME OLD STANDBYS 



It is a well-known fact that we could hardly "get along" without the 
colored people. Of course we could if we had to, but we don't and therefore. 

We all know their loyalty, their love for the "white folks" who help them 
if they try to help themselves. Never in the history of the world did a race 
of people stand by their "Massa" and "Mistress" as did the Southern colored 
population during the awful years of War and Reconstruction. Many went 
to the front with the soldiers and the others stayed at home to forage and 
keep the men supplied with sufTicient food. Houlka has her share of these 
loyal people and the following names are just a few that make up the better 
class: 



UNCLES 

Dave Turman 
Louis Hobson 
Mike Hobson 
Ellison Hobson 
Antony McConnell 
Ned Beeson 
Dol WHiite 
Sidney Love 
Ike Gordon 
Ephram Bugg 
Clint Fountain 
Jake Moore 
Aleck Hill 
Berry Hill 
Wiley Ware 
Sam Robinson 
Alex Davis 
Tillman Johnson 
Wash Bean 



AUNTIES 

Ponie Isbell 
Tabb Rogers 
Harriet Hill 
Rose White 
Chanie Hill 



Ann Nails 
Easter Cummings 
Cat Beeson 
Jennie Cox 
"Man Danie" 
Liza Gordon 
Dessie Cockrell 
Sallie Townsend 



YOUNGER STANDBYS 

Harry Bradford 
Bluford Fitzpatrick 
Bedford Hobson 
Major Bugg 
Dan Bugg 
Will Bugg 
Lee Bugg 
Forest Bugg 
Gus Evans 
Ambrose Rogers 
Twick Rogers 
Dock Rogers 
Frank Rogers 
Burl Moore 
Jake Moore, Jr. 
Bud Beeson 



Bob Williams 
Will Tabb 
Charlie Stubbs 
Walter Coleman 
Creed Fountain 
John Townsend 
Tom "Mike" 
Frank Hobson 
Nominee Cockrell 
Sock Nails 
Floyd Nails 
Andy Hedgespeth 
Bella Bradford 
Liny Moore 
Marl ha Fitzpatrick 
"Mot" Rogers 
Kate Turman 
Fannie Williams 
Jo Coleman 
Waddell Atkinson 
Morris Thompson 
Whit Reid 
J. J. Reid 
George Hedgespeth 
Will Pickens (iregory 
F^llis Jennings 
Currv Montague 
Jake 'Walls 



152 HOULKA YESTERDAY TODAY 

These people have their churches and Sunday Schools and are as a whole 
very law-abiding and God fearing in their daily life. The Baptist Church at 
Macedonia is served very efTiciently by Rev. W. H. Davidson of West Point. 
He is a remarkable example of what a colored man can do if he tries. His 
oratorical powers and his Scriptural interpretation are blended into a great 
work for his i)eople. The Methodists at tloulka are served by the very ori- 
ginal Rev. Winles. Withal Ihev are a verv harmonious class. 



LITTLE THINGS 

The old saying that "little things count" is certainly a blessing to a sick 
man. It is especially true in the life of a boy who has been unable to walk for 
over two years. 

It seems that everybody has been in to see him and from almost every- 
where. In fact, during his sickness and on up to March 27, 1914, he has had 
1777 visits — men, women, boys, girls, tots, both white and black, making 
a total of 597 people. That's some visitors: but not another sick man could 
have enjoyed their visits any more than he did. They have been his life, 
inspiration, happiness and education. Never has a visitor left his room 
without leaving some new thought that made the boy think — made him look 
deeper into the wonders and blessings of life, and brought new joys and 
happiness to his soul. So then, his visitors have been a great blessing — far 
more than they think — far more than he deserves — still they have been so 
kind, so good, so friendly, so interested in his recovery, that he can never 
thank them enough so long as he lives; but assures them that he appreciates 
their visits and the many other little kindnesses to the very utmost, and then 
another utmost. 

Thru the almost twilight hours of his life; thru night after night and day 
after day of incessant pain, he has come now into the joys of convaltscency 
— due solely to the skilful surgeons and to the devotion of his family and 
friends. How good it is to have friends — loved ones near you to do anything 
possible for you — sacrificing their energy, their money and every little thing 
that would make a boy happy and to keep him from thinking of pain. 

To the nurses and doctors in the University of Virginia Hospital, where 
he was compelled to go under ether for an operation after a "grandstand" 
fall at Jackson, Miss., — to the schoolmates of his at that institution and also 
at Ole Miss., he wishes to thank with one long-drawn-out "Thank you" that 
would reach around the world. 

To his mother, Mrs. Annie Harrill Reed, whose careful attention, devotion 
and love or him has been his very life, there comes another "Thank you," 
reaching a billion times around. Besides this, she gets at least fifty thanks 
per day for the many things she does for him and especially her help in the 
l)reparation of this book. 

To his brother and sister, Mac and Ruth, who have read to him. fed him, 
taken dictation, dosed him with water and lemonade, scrubbed his feet and 
laundered his ears, joked with him, laughed with him. filled him with grape 
juice and who have done for him all that he could ask or wish, some more 
thanks go their way. 

To his grandmother, Mrs. Sallie A. Harrill, who has kept his room filled 
with the choicest flowers of her garden and his lum-tum filled with pop corn 
and peanuts from some mysterious bag in the attic; who has kept his fire 
going with the nicest pieces of kindling and blocks and who has brushed 
the naps out of his hair with all the tenderness of a lovable grandmother 
there comes a bushel of tbanks and good measure. 

To his Uncle (). M. Harrill, whose great big heart has overllown with 
many hundred kindly actions to numbers and numbers of Houlka people. 



HAD HARRILL REED 153 



besides his fatherly care lor the sick boy and ^vho has cheerfully furnished 
him with a very costly adjustable bed, electric lights, fan, waterworks, type- 
writer, encyclopedias and everything else he could think of for the boy's coni- 
tort and entertainment; — to his Aunt Hattie, who has prepared for him many 
little dainties of the pantry to put under his plaster cast, brought him fruits 
and sweetmeats from town, dosed him with vile "yarbs," sera' died his back 
and otherwise helped him thru his two years of "loafing" — botli of them he 
wishes to thank and keep on thanking without end. 

To his Aunt Mary Pegues and her children, Willie, John Reed and Mary, 
who have all been so good to visit him, bring or send such nice fruits and 
cakes and help with many other little things of love and devotion; — to his 
cousin, Mrs. Raymond Trimble, and her husband, who have been so kind to 
help when his mother was away with a sick sister; — to his Aunt Enmia Sadler, 
who has visited him and made for him cakes when almost unable to make 
the trip; — to his Uncle Sam Hodges, who has visited him with smiles, good 
cheer and books; — to all those friends who have been constant helps to him 
with their well-wishes and for all the little things thev have sent him, he joy- 
ously exclaims "THANKS." ONCE MORE— THANKS. 

To Harry Bradford, who has been with the Reed family for over thirty 
years, nursing this young man when he was a toddling baby; caring for 
him all thru his life of more happiness than gloom and having the absolute 
confidence of all the family; waiting on him from the time he came from 
the hospital up to this very minute, night and day and between times, always 
ready at the sound of a long and a short push button ring; who dresses his 
wounds with the care and ease of an expert; lifts him to a Morris chair or 
wheel chair when he wants to "change;" rubs him, scrubs him, loves him, 
shaves him, makes him behave, keeps woodbox stacked, grunts for him, 
hunts for him and does everything under the sun a man can do to help ease 
the pain of a "bum hippo" without a grumble or a grouch; — then to Bella 
Bradford, who cooks for him the nicest biscuit and ham, the soupiest soup, 
the lightest of bread, the tenderest of chicken and turkey, the sweetest tea- 
cakes, the eggiest eggs, the juiciest of potatoes and the best of every little thing 
she can fmd; who churns for him the milkiest milk and the yellowest butter 
and who is always ready to do anything for him at any hour of the day or 
night and who goes about it with all the happiness a soul could ever wish 
for — therefore to both he extends his sincere thanks and a big "red nicker." 

So it is from day to day that he enjoys the big little things of his family 
and friends and never a night passes that he doesn't thank the great Giver 
of all Gifts with all the emotion and humbleness of his happy soul. 



GADABOUT GOSSIPING 

A tiny piece of "news" when it goes the rounds gathers more moss than it 
can conveniently carry. Some people's imagination is unlimited and when 
hear-say news begins to circulate it spreads like a bonfire — there is no end. 
Before it has gone far it looms into the longest and most alphabetical tale 
ever heard of — and cross your heart, it will have fuzz on it so thick and 
slimy that an anthropoidal animal would look at it in shame and a Proto- 
lithic dinosaur would go crazy with envy. A little added to what you have 
heard makes just that much more. Some of the most llat-footed, 23-jeweled 
six-cylindered, ball bearing, 90-horse powered falsehoods have and al- 
waj's will spread over the country world without end. Possibly it is not 
meant to do harm, but it does and causes much grief and unhappiness. 



J^L 2\ 1914 J 

154 H O U L K A Y E S T E R D A Y T O D A Y 



AFTERTHOUGHT 

It has always been my ambition to be an author or an editor and now 
it has come to me in a small way in the publication of this book. The prep- 
aration of this work has taken much time and study — besides a great ex- 
. pense of dollars. Although every click of the typewriter has sent pain all 
through my "Caster Plast" I have enjoyed it and have come to love those whom 
I have written "up" with much more regard for their struggle upward than 
heretofore. I am sure that you will notice many mistakes, but thru it all 
I have tried to be as accurate as possible from the outlines I received from 
the men herein. Many may say "Why did he say this about so and so and 
not about the other fellow" and of course you are at liberty to criticise it just 
as you wish for if there were no criticisms the book wouldn't be worth 
one cent. To write up these men and to try to get each as different as possible 
was "some job" and whatever I have said wrong about you please forgive a 
fellow who "meant well." iSIy thanks for your assistance in kindly answering 
my letters go to you with the love of a boy who thinks that a l30ost to the 
right man at the right time and especially before he has passed beyond is the 
best act man can ever do for his friends. I have tried to deliver the goods 
for your money's worth and wishing all of you continued success and a happy 
life, I'm looking at you as the happiest boy in all the world, 

RAD HARRILL REED. 



LBJa'15 



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